Apple events are known for their spectacle. But Monday’s event with its reveal of Apple’s new streaming video service, Apple TV+, felt kind of small (Hollywood star power notwithstanding).
The presentation was supposed to lay out how Apple (AAPL) was going to take on the streaming world, challenge Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS) and the litany of others in the space. Many of us though the tech giant was going to change the way we watch TV Instead we just got more questions:
Even Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon and Oprah felt like a collective meh because we didn’t get to experience what these creators are actually creating. There were no trailers – just lots of talking.
Okay, actually, Oprah is never meh so I take that last part back.
The whole thing felt very unlike Apple, as Recode’s Peter Kafka pointed out.
“One thing Apple has been very good about is showing off a new piece of hardware or software, telling you why you’d like to use it, and telling you when you can get it,” he wrote. “It usually tells you how much it costs, too.”
Apple will eventually tell us more about its plans, but for now the reception on this TV is pretty fuzzy.
Oprah Winfrey’s content deal with Apple (AAPL) includes documentaries and a rebooted book club – but not a regular talk show.
Winfrey got a standing O when she came out on stage, and again when she wrapped up.
Her deal with Apple was announced last June, but no one knew what she would be working on.
She said she has two documentaries in the works. And with the digital book club, she said “I want to literally convene a meeting of the minds.”
Winfrey is also the CEO of the OWN cable channel. She is exclusive to OWN on cable, but has the ability to appear other places as well, for example on Apple’s streaming service.
Speaking on stage, she summed up a key part of Apple’s pitch to Hollywood:
Read more about Oprah and Apple from CNN’s Sandra Gonzalez.
Also: Remember when ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ made us listen to each other.
What does WW have in common with Apple? Oprah.
WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, hired Oprah as its spokeswoman in 2015. Apple (AAPL) just hired her to produce documentaries and host a book club on Apple’s platform.
WW’s (WTW) stock shot up about 1% the moment Oprah took the stage.
Oprah owns a little more than 8% of WW.
It’s possible that high-speed trading machines were responsible for the spike in WW’s stock. Shares came back down to earth minutes after Oprah started speaking.
And you get an AppleTV+! And you get an AppleTV+! And you get an Apple TV+!
Apple CEO Tim Cook saved the biggest storyteller for last: Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah appeared on stage to cap off Apple’s press event telling the crowd “there’s never been a moment like this one.”
Oprah said that she “joined in order to serve this moment,” and that the apple platform allows her to do what she does in a whole new way.
Oprah announced that she has two documentaries in the works. One documentary called “Toxic Labor” while the other is a yet unnamed documentary.
Oprah also said she’s rebooting her famed book club with Apple (AAPL).
“All connected to Appppppple!” Oprah said, wrapping up the event.
“Thank you, I will never forget this,” Cook said while hugging Oprah.
Apple’s event on Monday didn’t feel like a normal “one more thing” Apple (AAPL) event that ends with a brand new innovative iPhone, but instead felt like a TV upfront.
A TV upfront, for the some of you who may not know, is a network’s presentation of its new slate of shows to entice advertisers before the TV season. TV networks bring out talent, talk in wonky language about the series and it’s all generally awkward.
Monday’s Apple event was basically the same thing. Apple brought out Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and J.J. Abrams to talk about their upcoming series like “Amazing Stories” and “The Morning Show.”
But instead of talking to advertisers, Apple and talent were talking to reporters in the room and viewers watching at home.
One big difference from the TV upfronts: Apple didn’t show much in the way of trailers. It was more of a spoken-word trailer.
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon appeared on stage to introduced their Apple (AAPL) series “The Morning Show” — a fun look into the wild world of morning news.
“Through the prism of those under-slept and over-adrenalined people behind and in front of the camera, we take an honest look at relationships between women and men in the workplace,” Aniston said on stage.
The two are also executive producers on the show.
Steve Carell, who is also on the series, joined Aniston and Reese on stage and vamped about the series and his character.
“His colleagues love him and America love him,” Carell joked.
(Full disclosure from CNN’s Brian Stelter, who’s reporting live at today’s event: I’m a consultant on one of Apple’s many shows, a drama set in the world of morning TV. But I don’t know when or how the show is being released.)
“I’m so grateful to be here today. This is my first time at Apple,” Steven Spielberg said on stage.
Spielberg said an anthology series called “Amazing Stories ” was his first encounter with science fiction, thus confirming reports that his series would be a part of the new Apple TV+
“We want to transport the audience with every episode,” he said. He hopes that the first season of “Amazing Stories” will be a single thematic experience.
The original “Amazing Stories” ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987.
Roku’s stock fell more than 5% during Apple’s TV and TV+ presentations.
Shares in the streaming device company had been up as much as 8%, but they are now up only a little more than 2%.
Roku (ROKU) competes with Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast and several other streaming video options. Roku dominates the space, more than doubling Apple’s market share, according to Parks Associates. Apple TV will now be coming to Roku devices and smart TVs, but that may not be enough to comfort investors.
“Great stories can change the world,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO said, before introducing the name of Apple’s new TV service: Apple TV+.
Apple (AAPL) said that Apple TV+ will work with artists and some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Sofia Coppola, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Damien Chazelle, M. Night Shyamalan and Ron Howard were all a part of a black and white film about how these Hollywood heavyweights work creatively.
Brian Stelter notes:
(Full disclosure from CNN’s Brian Stelter, who’s currently reporting live at today’s event: I’m a consultant on one of Apple’s many shows, a drama set in the world of morning TV. But I don’t know when or how the show is being released.)
Apple (AAPL) wants you to know it takes your privacy really, really seriously.
Throughout the presentation, executives played up the company’s focus on privacy and security.
Executives referenced its “on-device intelligence,” which uses information from your device to serve up recommendations. For example, its news app will feature suggestions, but Apple won’t know what you’re reading and won’t allow advertisers to track you.
Meanwhile, Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) have been under fire for how much information they collect about their users.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also reminded the audience that Apple News has always relied on trusted sources, and articles have been curated by experts. Cook said this is a “different approach than others have taken” – a clear swipe at Facebook.
And it’s showtime for TV!
Apple’s big announcement: It is redesigning its Apple TV app to allow consumers to pay only for what they want, ad free, and share with their family.
Apple (AAPL) will allow consumers to subscribe to channels such as Starz, Showtime and HBO.
This is the first time the Apple TV app will be on Mac and smart TVs.
And Apple keeps emphasizing: The Apple TV app will not share consumers’ personal data with anyone.
Apple (AAPL) is debuting different products across many different areas from news to banking to gaming. But the one common theme is, man, there are a lot of sizzle reels.
There’s sizzle reels to show the beauty of magazines and I believe at least two sizzle reels that showed off much of the same video games.
I’m looking forward to the next sizzle reel for Apple Sizzle, which is an app that creates sizzle reels for Apple events.
The company unveiled Apple Arcade, which it calls the world’s first game subscription service, for mobile, desktop and the living room. It will feature curated, brand-new games that Apple (AAPL) will help develop.
Games will work on iPhones, Apple TVs, Macs and iPads – and you can pick off where you left off even if you change devices. Games are also available even without an internet connection.
Apple Arcade, which is available this fall, has over 100 games, and more will be added. They won’t feature ads or in-app purchases. Pricing has not yet been announced.
The company unveiled a new credit card called the Apple Card, in partnership with Goldman Sachs (GS).
Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook says the company is “changing the entire credit card experience” and that credit cards should have simplified apps, lower interest rates and compelling rewards.
Customers don’t have to wait days for the card: Apple said you can sign up on your iPhone, and start using it within minutes. The card will be in your iPhone’s Wallet app. The physical card – made of titanium – has no number, security code, expiration date or signature for extra security.
It features perks like cash back every day, and tools to track your spending.
Extra! Extra! Apple News+ is launching today.
Roger Rosner, Apple’s VP of applications, announced the company’s new news service will be available on iPhones after downloading the latest version of iOS.
The service will be $9.99 a month, compared to the $8,000 a year it would take to subscribe to all the titles it will offer, according to Rosner. It will have over 300 outlets. The first month will be free.
Two of the biggest outlets in Apple News+ are the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal, which Rosner called “one of the world’s top newspapers.”
Rami from Melbourne, Florida, asks: How do you expect the Apple stock to be have after today’s announcement?
Apple’s stock has a long history of falling after the company’s big announcements. That doesn’t necessarily mean Apple (AAPL) disappoints Wall Street every time Tim Cook gets on stage; it means Apple’s announcements tend to leak, and investors are doing the “buy the rumor / sell the news” thing.
So far, Apple’s stock has fallen about a half a percentage point since its presentation began.
One stock is soaring on Apple’s announcement: Roku (ROKU) shot up about 8% today. Investors in the streaming set-top-box company apparently aren’t overly impressed with Apple’s news so far.
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“We’re bringing magazines to Apple News!”
That’s how Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook introduced the tech giant’s new Apple News product simply called: Apple News+.
“Our goal for Apple News+ is to create the best magazine reading experience for a mobile device,” Roger Rosner, Apple’s VP of applications told the crowd at Apple’s media event on Monday.
Rosner said that the product will have 300 magazines across all sorts of topics including entertainment and news. Rosner and Cook both stressed that Apple News+ would be a trusted source of news.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon was seen at Apple Park on Monday ahead of the event.
Goldman (GS) and Apple (AAPL) are reportedly teaming up to offer a new credit card. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the card could work with the Apple Wallet app to help consumers set spending goals, monitor rewards and view balances.
The new credit card could be unveiled at today’s event.
Apple’s new ventures in entertainment and news mean there are lots of unusual visitors to Apple headquarters this morning.
There are Hollywood celebrities, entering through a private entrance, preparing to appear on stage to promote the company’s slate of TV shows.
And there are news industry executives like Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, who walked up to the Steve Jobs Theater with the paper’s executive editor Norm Pearlstine. The two men played coy when I asked if their presence indicates that the L.A. Times will be included in Apple’s news subscription service.
There are numerous entertainment and media beat reporters here too – visiting Apple Park for the first time. Lots of people taking selfies because they’ve never been here before.
