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Apple announces first original TV show focused on the ‘app economy’ with music artist Will.i.am

the-future-of-tv-is-apps

Apple has long been rumored to be creating its own original TV content, and now it’s made its first plans official. Apple shared today that it will work with TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, as well as rapper Will.i.am on its first TV project (via NY Times). Silverman is perhaps best known for his work on shows like The Biggest Loser, while Owens is one of the minds behind MasterChef Junior.

The series is said to be nonscripted and will focus on the “app economy.” What exactly that means remains to be seen, but Eddy Cue explained that the show will spotlight how the App Store allows people to take their great ideas and build things. “One of the things with the app store that was always great about it was the great ideas that people had to build things and create things,” Cue said.

There are still a lot of unknowns regarding this original series, such as financing, an official title, how people will watch it, and storyline details. It’s unclear if Will.i.am will be an actor on the show or if he will work behind-the-scenes.

Cue was quick to point, however, that this does not mean Apple is going to dive totally in to movie and TV production. “This doesn’t mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that,” the Apple executive said.

Eddy Cue worked with Ben Silverman when he was a top executive at NBC. Silverman worked with Cue to bring NBC’s show “The Office” to iTunes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSiDIaab2nY

App-centric video from WWDC 2015 

This show marks the first foray into non-music original content. Apple worked with Taylor Swift to produce an exclusive tour documentary, while the company also sponsored a live show for band The 1975 and conducts a variety of interviews on its Beats 1 streaming station.

There’s no timetable for Apple’s first original TV series, but at least now we know that the company is actually working on it. Apple is also rumored to be working with Dr. Dre on some exclusive video series as well. What do you think about an unscripted show based on the app economy? Tell us in the comments.

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Comments

  1. Neil Quinn (@neilq5) - 8 years ago

    Hopefully it’ll be free with some kind of subscription (I’d love it to be free with an Apple Music subscription but that doesn’t really make sense).

  2. viciosodiego - 8 years ago

    wait a minute, wasn’t will i am the rapper who was saying crap about the apple watch?
    What a surprise.
    Seriously, why would apple even consider this guy?
    I guess Business is Business.

  3. Jonah Heemstra - 8 years ago

    Sounds more like a documentary than a full TV series..

  4. theca2017 - 8 years ago

    They should make it free with ads and options for in-episode purchases.

  5. Sounds boring, frankly. They need something with pizazz to kick off “original content”. This sounds like a lame duck wanna be. Not the most creative project. I doubt there will be much interest.

  6. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    Apple makes a show about Apple? *shrug*

  7. jedimindtrick99 - 8 years ago

    Uh doesn’t Will.i.am have a distaste for Apple? What ever happened to the Watch by Dell he had lmao

  8. Well… this is a branding mistake. Will am i and quality don’t mix well…..

  9. Robert Wood - 8 years ago

    Appreciate more contents available on AppleTV. I wish having NCAA basketball App available for AppleTV but does not allow streaming. CBS displays message when open NCAA App saying streaming allowed on mobile and computer devices but not available for AppleTV. I can watch same over the air or stream on laptop but not AppleTV. Don’t get it, why?

  10. patthecarnut - 8 years ago

    Sorry, will i am is a tool….

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

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