Exclusive: Apple courts Hollywood for upcoming TV: sources
(Reuters) - Apple Inc began talks earlier this year to stream films owned by EPIX, which is backed by three major movie studios, on devices including a long-anticipated TV, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's living-room ambitions have run through Hollywood before: back in January 2008 Business Week reported Apple was closing in on Hollywood, and by April of that year Blockbuster was eyeing streaming-to-TV as the battleground. What is new in this Reuters exclusive is a specific negotiation with EPIX — a streaming venture backed by three major movie studios — that sources say includes devices beyond the existing box, namely a long-rumored full television set.
The pickup pattern shows how hot the rumor ran: within a day the report had been syndicated across at least eight outlets including CNET, Ars Technica, MacRumors and Business Insider. Both key claims — the EPIX talks and the TV set itself — remain unconfirmed, so the analysis below treats them as sourced but rumored.
First-order effects
- If the talks land, EPIX's studio-backed film library gains distribution across iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and any forthcoming set, giving the young service instant reach into Apple's installed base.
- For Apple, a library deal would address the standing criticism that its hardware-led approach stalls without licensed content — the same gap its earlier Hollywood outreach failed to close.
Second-order effects
- Netflix and cable operators' own streaming efforts face a competitor whose real leverage is device distribution rather than content spend, pressuring them to lock up exclusives of their own.
- Studios backing EPIX gain a second bargaining table against Apple, strengthening their hand on revenue splits for any future iTunes-style TV arrangements.
Third-order effects
- Consumer-electronics makers entering the living room are learning that screen hardware is the easy part — content rights are the gate, pushing every hardware entrant toward studio licensing or ownership deals.
- Studio-backed joint ventures like EPIX become strategic assets precisely because they bundle multiple studios' libraries into one negotiable package, reshaping how content is licensed to platforms.
The trend: Living-room competition is shifting from who builds the best screen to who controls the licensed content pipeline, forcing hardware companies into increasingly deep studio negotiations.