Apple Working on Original Television Series About Apps

Apple is working with Will.i.am and TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens on a new non-scripted television show that will "spotlight the app economy," reports The New York Times. There are no details on the television show beyond the App Store premise, so it is not clear what format episodes will take.

Apple executives have not made details like title, timeline, storylines, or episode length public, and there is no information on where the show will be promoted. Given that it's focused on the App Store, it could be made available through an app, shown through the App Store itself, or be made available as a standard television show on iTunes.


The App Store series was conceived by Ben Silverman, who presented the idea to Apple. Silverman is an executive producer on shows like Jane the Virgin, The Biggest Loser, Marco Polo, and Flaked.

In an interview with The New York Times, Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue cautioned that the show is not a signal that Apple will be delving deeper into original television and streaming video, despite rumors last year suggesting the company was meeting with Hollywood executives to make a big push into original programming.

"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," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in an interview. [...]

"This doesn't mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that," Mr. Cue said. He added that the company would continue to explore exclusive projects similar to the series about apps or its push into music programming.

Along with its television show focused on apps, Apple is also creating a television series called Vital Signs that will star Beats co-founder and Apple executive Dr. Dre. Described as a dark semi-autobiographical drama, Vital Signs will be used to promote the Apple Music streaming service, much like this new television show will promote the App Store.