Pushing into Original TV Content, Apple Poaches Sony Executives
Apple is partway through Planet of the Apps, an original episodic series on Apple Music. As the company’s debut show runs, it’s looking ahead to future projects—and is hiring the people it feels it needs to continue its push into television-like programming.
The tech giant poached two veteran executives from Sony Pictures Television, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg. The pair were involved with successful shows such as “Breaking Bad” and “The Crown.”
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, described Erlicht and Van Amburg as “instrumental in making this the golden age of television.”
In Planet of the Apps, a reality-style show, developers pitch to a celebrity panel consisting of Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and will.i.am. It’s hosted by Beats 1 radio DJ Zane Lowe.
Apple is not the only tech titan investing heavily in original video content; Amazon and Facebook are among the others, heating up a marketplace pioneered by Netflix.
