We may not have to wait much longer for the highly-anticipated Apple TV Plus streaming service. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to roll out its film and TV service "by November", which would pre-empt the launch of rival Disney Plus in the US on November 12th.
Apple could also be pitching its Netflix rival at $9.99 per month after a free trial. The report notes that while Apple hasn't announced Apple TV+ pricing, the Cupertino giant is "weighing" that monthly cost, according to people familiar with the matter. That would undercut Netflix's $12.99 monthly figure but exceed Amazon's standalone Prime Video subscription ($8.99 a month) as well as the forthcoming Disney Plus service ($6.99 a month). It's at the pricier end of the streaming market, then, but perhaps Apple deems that necessary for it to reach its goal of $50 billion in service sales by 2020.
Apple is allegedly throwing everything into the service to rival its competitors, however, with the Financial Times reporting that its spending on original programming has ballooned from early rumours of $1bn to a whopping $6bn. That's still under half of Netflix's planned spend for this year, but as early trailers and programming details have shown it has acquired a raft of talent.
According to the publication's sources, hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent on the Jennifer Anniston-, Steve Carrell and Reese Witherspoon-helmed The Morning Show (the trailer for which has just dropped) alone. The claim is that it could be the most expensive show per episode in TV history, surpassing Game of Thrones' final season, which reportedly cost $15m per episode.
MORE:
Apple TV Plus streaming service: everything you need to know
Disney Plus streaming service: everything you need to know
