Apple could start offering original streaming video content on its Apple Music platform by the end of the year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The tech giant reportedly hopes its scripted shows and movies will become as popular as HBO's "Westworld" or Netflix's "Stranger Things," and has been talking to producers in connection with the project.
Apple does not appear to be gunning directly for Netflix or Amazon with its video experiment, according to the Journal, because its offering would still be relatively small. But it could up the ante against Spotify, as well as tee up Apple for a big role in media and Hollywood.
Rumors of Apple's interest in television are not new. The company was said to have been planning to launch a streaming TV service as far back as 2012. But negotiations with content providers for TV rights have made it hard for Apple to break into the market and offer a cable-like experience.
With more Americans cutting the cord, however, and embracing the kind of original content pioneered by Netflix, Apple may have another shot at building a TV empire. The company has already debuted a number of music-related shows and documentaries on Apple TV, and that is expected to grow with an original series featuring Dr. Dre, a reality show called "Planet of the Apps," and rights to produce a spinoff of CBS' "Carpool Karaoke."
"The entire world of communications and entertainment and television are all changing and converging," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom and media analyst. "We are going to see many companies enter the space in the same way. Some of them will be successful. Some of them will not. This is just the early days."
© 2016 The Washington Post
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