Rumours have been swirling for a few years that Apple plans to drop a streaming video service, with reports frequently emerging regarding the company acquiring specific television shows, or reaching agreements with different actors.
Now, Apple’s vision for a streaming platform is slowly solidifying, with The Information reporting that the company plans to create an all-in-one platform for its original TV shows, movies, Apple Music and magazine articles.
It looks like this rollout will happen in stages, however. Apple reportedly plans to launch a new digital news subscription service in 2019. This platform will be known as Texture, the same name as the magazine subscription platform Apple acquired earlier this year. This platform is tipped to feature 200 publications and is rumoured to be priced in the $9.99 per month range.
Soon after Texture’s launch, Apple then plans to start selling a bundle that includes new video content, along with Apple Music, according to The Information’s report.
While an interesting move on Apple’s part, especially with Google’s YouTube Premium service finally making its way to Canada just last week, the answers to a number of questions are still unknown. For one, how much will Apple charge for this all-in-one platform? With Apple music coming in at the $9 range in most regions and Texture being rumoured to cost $10, the addition of video content could push up the cost of an all-encompassing service considerably.
Further, it’s unclear when the service will launch, or even how Apple intends to release it. For example, will the video portion of Apple’s content plan feature its own app?
It’s likely that we’ll learn more about Apple’s content plans leading into the company’s annual fall devices keynote.
Source: The Information
