Malcolm Owen
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been spotted alongside SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue arriving at the annual Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference, where the pair are expected to talk with the chiefs of other tech companies and media moguls abut the upcoming Apple TV+ service.
The Sun Valley Conference is a venue for the leaders of major corporations to make deals, with many major media deals usually agreed at the Idaho event each year. Hosted by Allen & Co., the conference is an invitation-only affair, with Cook making his eighth consecutive appearance and Cook's sixth.
Other major executives in attendance as reported by CNBC include Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, CBS and Viacom vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav.
It is highly likely Tim Cook and Eddy Cue will use the opportunity to broker behind-the-scenes deals with other media giants at the event, to help bring more shows to its upcoming Apple TV+ original content subscription, due to arrive later in 2019. For Apple TV, Cue recently claimed Apple is working on "creating the best" video content" instead of "creating the most," a potential dig at the massive production efforts of its rivals.
While the strategy could potentially allow it to stand out in a market that is already dominated by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, it is also set to be joined by efforts from Disney and HBO, among other heavy hitters.
Apple may also seek to gain some traction for other subscription services, including Apple Arcade and Apple News+, with the presence of other CEOs at the conference likely to result in the creation of new deals.
Examples of other major deals to have occurred at Sun Valley include Disney's buyout of ABC/Capital Cities worth $19 billion, and the takeover of the Washington Post by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
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2 Comments
Exciting times.
I wonder if Apple will add licensed/acquired content in the future? But that would make them like Netflix and we all know Apple likes to think different.
I would think it is more about getting every major content provider into the Apple TV subscription portal.
Ultimately, they are trying to undercut the cable bundling model -- right now, I need either a cable package or a cable-equivalent streaming package. Anyone who has looked into cutting the cord recently knows what I mean. The overall cost is only slightly less than cable. And even that small savings is likely to disappear, soon.
Without the bundling model, I think there are likely to be two basic tiers in any individual's subscription patterns. One layer of services that people subscribe to year-round. The other layer is premium or specialized services that people do nomadic streaming for.
One thing Apple can pitch to all of these premium/specialized providers is handling nomadic streamers for them.
Where does Apple TV+ fit into this? We'll know soon enough.