Apple Opens New Chapter With ‘Oprah’s Book Club’

Apple said that a new edition of Oprah’s Book Club will launch exclusively on Apple TV+ on Nov. 1.

Apple announced that Apple TV+, its new streaming service, will launch Nov. 1 and cost $4.99 a month. People who buy new Apple gadgets, from the new iPhone to a Mac Book will get Apple TV+ free for a year.

The first selection for the book club is The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Winfrey will interview Coates in the first installment of the new series.

“I am who I am today because of the experience of learning to read at an early age. Reading opened up a whole world for me beyond the red dirt road and my grandmother’s porch in Mississippi,” said Oprah Winfrey. “I want to do that for everybody. And the opportunity to do this with Apple, to speak to people all over the world about the pleasures, the excitement, the tension, the drama that a good book can bring you … I don’t know what’s better than that.”

A new episode will be available every two months.

For every Oprah’s Book Club selection sold on Apple Books, Apple said it will make a contribution to the American Library Association to support local libraries, fund programs that give access to everyone and create lifelong readers at an early age.

“Few people in the world can bring us together like Oprah, whose compassion and grace celebrating the power of books are unmatched,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “It’s our honor to provide a new platform for Oprah’s Book Club and support the American Library Association in opening hearts and minds to the joy of reading.”

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.