The subject of Apple’s venture into producing an original TV series has been speculated on for weeks now, but according to The Hollywood Reporter and its multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter the rumors are true – to a degree.
Apple is working on a six-episode series called “Vital Signs” with Dr. Dre the hip-hop producer and Apple executive who co-founded Beats Electronics and Beats Music which Apple purchased in 2014. The series is said to be loosely based on the life of Dr. Dre and is expected to be a “dark drama” despite the 30-minute episode format that is typically used by the comedy sitcom genre.
“Vital Signs” is expected to be available exclusively on Apple Music, Apple’s $10 per month streaming service. But is the series Apple’s first step into the TV business or is the series another video project meant to bolster its subscription music service?
Maybe it is both. It could be possible that Apple is gearing up for its own online TV streaming service, jumpstarted by the programming being added to Apple Music. The company has a track record for expansion into new services beyond its hardware division.
Apple has been financing video content used to market or “extend” its Apple Music service. Drake’s highly popular music video for “Hotline Bling” was financed by Apple and it debuted on Apple Music. Apple financed the concert movie for Taylor Swift’s “1989” album and it is offered exclusively on Apple Music. Hip-hop producer DJ Khaled also has a radio show on Apple Music and now the accompanying “We The Best” TV for Apple Music.
These investments could point to a larger TV venture for Apple. At the moment Apple does not operate a linear channel or have distribution with legacy MPVDs, an SVoD service or paid video subscribers, but the company is entering the original content production business anyway with one true-to-form TV show, but one show could be all it takes.
Apple has more than enough assets to market its own show. It has iTunes which generates tons of traffic and Apple has the power to control the promotional content on the home screen of the app and can therefore generate interest in an Apple original that way. There are also roughly 30 million Apple TV devices in the market that are in service and the Apple TV interface is another piece of real estate in the home that can be utilized to promote “Vital Signs.” And in addition to being vehicles for content discovery iTunes and Apple TV (and Apple Music) are forms of distribution for the content as well.
Of course, there is the great possibility that Apple’s video projects are marketing the content Apple Music is offering, as a way of boosting the service with content not available anywhere else and recruiting paying Apple Music subscribers. On all fronts video is becoming the weapon of choice, including in the music streaming services market. Spotify recently launched its video initiative, offering video content from a variety of content publishers as a way to expand to more audiences and encourage more time-spent on the Spotify app. And the video content is available to all Spotify users, not just the paying ones.
It’s likely that Apple will forge its own unique path in its approach to TV rather than conforming to conventional methods. If apple was going to license legacy TV channels to launch a pay TV over broadband service it would have done it by now, although an SVoD service similar to Netflix is more likely it is doubtful that Apple would invest in copying the model of a rival. Apple is not tied to any conventional TV methods so it has the ability to create its own approach to TV, if the production of “Vital Signs” is in fact signaling a TV venture Apple, could surprise us with a strategy from left-field.