Apple is serving notice that it’s serious about a future in original programming, teaming with Oprah Winfrey for a multi-year partnership. In a terse statement, the tech giant announced that “Winfrey and Apple will create original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.”
No details were released, but insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that the mega-deal encompasses everything from movies to TV to apps to books. Notably, the partnership does not include podcasts — Winfrey has her own platform for the podcast version of her Emmy-winning Super Soul Saturday series, which recently hit #1 on Apple Podcasts.
The 64-year-old media mogul will remain the chief executive of OWN, the channel that she launched in 2011 in partnership with Discovery. Under her contract with OWN, which was recently renewed through 2025, Winfrey can appear on camera on other outlets on a limited basis.
As The Guardian notes, this recent partnership is part of a $1 billion push by Apple as it scrambles to gain a foothold in the streaming original programming market. Other projects in the works include a reboot of Spielberg’s sci-fi anthology series Amazing Stories, an ambitious series based on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, and a contemporary drama set in the world of morning television starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.
Winfrey is one of the richest people in the world and her Harpo Films will own any content created under the Apple deal. She was reportedly pursued by other tech companies, likely including Netflix and Amazon. The announcement is a big coup for new Apple video executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht.
A recent report in Bloomberg suggests that Apple may be taking a page from its rival Amazon’s playbook, with a subscription-based model that will offer video services directly through Apple TV rather than individual app purchases. Although Apple is one of the biggest sellers of digital movies and television shows through iTunes, it’s lagging far behind rivals such as YouTube and Netflix in the on-demand streaming arena.
One thing’s for sure — a heavyweight battle among streaming content providers is just getting started, with Netflix signing a multi-year deal with Barack and Michelle Obama for documentary and film production, and Amazon dropping more than $1 billion on a Lord of the Rings series.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.