Apple Invests in Original Podcasts With the Potential to Adapt into TV+ Shows

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Apple has stepped up its investment in original podcast content by signing an agreement with Pulitzer Prize-winning production company Futuro Studios, Bloomberg reports.

Podcasts Feature
The deal with Futuro Studios, maker of the criminal-justice series "Suave," stipulates that Apple will fund development and production of podcasts, and then have the first option to turn them into a film or TV show for its Apple TV+ service.

Apple has ramped up its podcast production output over the past couple of years, generating spinoffs of some of its original television and movie content, such as the "For All Mankind" podcast, but also seeking to purchase original podcast programs that could tie into future TV+ shows.

Apple has discussed similar arrangements with other podcast production studios and spent up to $10 million on the push so far, according to Bloomberg. Apple has already financed a handful of popular podcasts, including true crime series "Hooked" and "The Line," with several tied in some way to its TV shows.

Apple is said to be using the podcast investment strategy as a relatively risk-free method of gauging interest in the material to determine whether it could become the foundation for a video series. The approach means Apple avoids having to spend potentially significantly more money to acquire rights to an established podcast in order to turn it into original video programming.

Apple's low-key plans contrast with Spotify's high-spending strategy of acquiring already-popular podcasts and making them exclusive to its streaming service. Spotify has been making inroads in the podcasting market over the course of the last few years, ramping up its original podcast offerings and making major acquisitions, as well as scoring key deals such as the rights to the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Tag: Apple Podcasts

Top Rated Comments

incoherent_1 Avatar
incoherent_1
15 months ago

I hope this exclusivity **** being pulled by megacorps leads to a renaissance in piracy.
My personal favorite is subscribing to a content provider and not getting certain exclusive content they own because of inept region filtering.

For example, I subscribed to Prime to watch The Boys and it wasn't published as available in our region even though Amazon owns exclusive global distribution rights for it. :rolleyes:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Expos of 1969 Avatar
Expos of 1969
15 months ago

We are some. But not as many as Spotifiers...
I think it's mostly because:
a - Spotify came first, and it was a really good product from the start.
b - The first iteration of AM was a disaster.

Personally I have used both, but AM is really good these days so I have used that the last couple of years (since they rebuilt it from scratch, I don't remember when).

Both products are excellent, if you ask me.
When living in Canada prior to moving to Europe I was not aware of Spotify. I used iTunes until 2018 and then started using Apple Music. I have used both Apple Music and paid Spotify (with some cancellations every so often) for the past three years or so.

It is extremely frustrating and really turns me off Apple that they can't be bothered to make it work smoothly on their own expensive hardware such as my M1 MacBook Air. It works better on my Samsung phone than on my Mac. Simply no excuse for that.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jamcgahey Avatar
jamcgahey
15 months ago

When living in Canada prior to moving to Europe I was not aware of Spotify. I used iTunes until 2018 and then started using Apple Music. I have used both Apple Music and paid Spotify (with some cancellations every so often) for the past three years or so.

It is extremely frustrating and really turns me off Apple that they can't be bothered to make it work smoothly on their own expensive hardware such as my M1 MacBook Air. It works better on my Samsung phone than on my Mac. Simply no excuse for that.
This is my biggest gripe. Obviously Apple is a hardware company first, but they have always been known for producing incredible products. I just wish that sentiment was reflected in their software (outside of OS) as well.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
CarlJ
15 months ago

Not that I don’t agree with you, but people can be greedy too. If piracy is easy enough and the risks are low people will turn to it once they can’t justify the cost of legitimate sources anymore.
Yep, some people do that. And those people are bad people.

Heaven forfend the horror of the notion that they might go without their bingewatch of Game of Thrones or whatever.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L92 Avatar
L92
15 months ago
It's baffling how they can not figure out how to play content on their Podcast or Music app continuously between their own devices. With Spotify I can move to my Mac and pickup where I left off, or continue on my iPhone in an instance. That's not the case with Apple software, it doesn't sync instantly. That's the only reason I use Spotify, which is pricier somewhat, but it's just so much more convenient.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svish Avatar
svish
15 months ago
Hope to see more good quality shows on Apple TV+ with this deal.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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