Apple Makes Multi-Year Content Deal With Oprah

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Apple, which has been making deals to create original video programming, on Friday said it reached a multi-year content partnership with Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey, who also runs the Oprah Winfrey Network for Discovery, will create “original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.”

Oprah’s projects will be released as part of a lineup of original content from Apple, the company said, providing no other details.

Related: Amazon Studios Signs First Look Deal With Nicole Kidman

One of the best known women in the world, Oprah for decades had the highest rated talk show in daytime TV.

Apple previously has made deals with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston for a series about a morning show, with Steven Spielberg for a new version of Amazing Stories, and with M. Night Shyamalan for a thriller. Apple also hired Sony executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to run a studio.

Apple is among the tech companies aggressively pursuing Hollywood talent including Netflix and Amazon. 

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.