Here’s what Eddy Cue just told us about Apple’s media plans
Apple is acquiring Texture to make Apple News a better place for publishers
Apple VP Eddy Cue spoke at SWSX. Here’s the quick and simple guide to what he said about Apple and its plans for News, TV shows, sports television, AR and more.
On original content
- Apple sought a leader for its push into original programming for two years before hiring Sony TV veterans, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht
- Apple has “about a dozen” shows in development
- Apple’s original programming team is now around 40 strong, said Cue
- Apple is now expanding this with international hires
- It is making “big investments” in this
- Apple will not try dozens of shows, but it will try to deliver very high quality shows it thinks will be the best. Cue admitted that not everything will be a hit as this is a new business for the company.
- Apple doesn’t need to compete with/buy Netflix or Disney, they are “good partners”.
- We “generally haven’t made huge acquisitions”
- Apple is “all in” on content
- But is after “quality, not quantity”
- “Great storytelling is what’s important,” Cue said.
- He does not believe in that short 2-8-minute shows can tell stories as deeply as Game of Thrones.
- Expect surprises in the viewing experience for Apple’s shows
Eddy @cue of @Apple on acquisition of Texture. #sxsw pic.twitter.com/GkSs1NCQU4
— KVUE News (@KVUE) March 12, 2018
On purchasing Texture
- Texture is kind of like a digital newsstand for publishers (where have I heard that before?) that Apple is purchasing, you can subscribe to titles through the app.
- Texture will be integrated into Apple News
- Apple is not focused on ads sales through News
https://twitter.com/AnnabelFidler/status/973232822264762368
On News
- Apple is focused on curation: The best articles, from trusted sources
- Apple News already accounts for 60-70 percent of articles read online for some Apple News partners.
- The service looks for in-depth content, not clickbait
- News users followed an average of four titles a year ago, now follow 20.
- When it comes to fake news, Apple says there is a “responsibility” to be responsible
- “We’re going to step up” to control fake news content
- Free speech is important.
“We don’t think white supremacy or hate speech is important speech to be out there.”
Admitted “huge sports nut” Eddy Cue says Apple uses TV App as focal point and built a really great sports piece that launches this Thursday with March Madness #SXSW pic.twitter.com/ayWaJCl59n
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) March 12, 2018
On sports television
- Apple will launch something to do with sport this Thursday
- Cue wants to “augment” sports content
- That means things like notifications, game states
- And interactive content
- Technologies for interaction and notification and so on also apply to original content, I think Cue suggests.
On AR
- AR will be a mainstream product
- You’ll use it every day
- ARKit is a way to ramp-up development
- Any AR hardware needs to be better than an iPhone
- “iPhones aren’t going away”
On Apple Music
- There are now 38-million Apple Music subscribers and 8 million trial users
- Apple Music and Spotify both need to grow “significantly” to make sure artists get the compensation their work deserves.
On future products
Cue won’t talk about future products. He likes his job too much.
Eddy Cue when asked about AR outside the phone: “I’ve worked for Apple for almost 30 years and hope to work for Apple for another 20 years, so I’m not going to answer any questions on future products.” #SXSW pic.twitter.com/dDjfU4QEND
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) March 12, 2018
Sources
- Hollywood Reporter
- Alex Heath on Twitter,
- LanceUlanoff on Twitter.
- Engadget
- 9to5Mac
- CNN
