Apple has several executives leading negotiations with Hollywood companies for the rights to TV shows and movies, and potentially a big purchase of a content company, the New York Post reports.
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Apple has 3 execs looking to make big TV deals — and it sounds like a total mess (AAPL)
Apple has several execs leading negotiations with Hollywood companies for TV shows and movies, and potentially an big purchase of a content company.
Apple execs have met with Paramount, and Sony's TV and film departments, according to the report. Previously, the Financial Times reported that Apple had entered into talks with Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment.
These talks could've taken place last month, when Apple CEO Tim Cook and SVP Eddy Cue were in LA to attend both the Oscars and the Grammys.
But most interestingly, the Post's sources say Apple hasn't figured out who's leading the negotiations: sometimes it's Cue, sometimes it's his longtime lieutenant Robert Kondrk, and sometimes it's Jimmy Iovine, founder of Beats and music industry heavyweight. He doesn't have a title at Apple — it's just "Jimmy."
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The Post's Claire Atkinson writes:
As Apple executives are busying looking to do business in Hollywood, entertainment industry insiders are scratching their heads over who, exactly, is driving the effort.
“Robert Kondrk, Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine, everyone is trying to be the person,” one insider told The Post. “They each want to be the guy, and they’re telling people, don’t deal with the other one.”
That sounds messy, and it's not the first time we've heard about this type of confusion in Apple.
Last year, in an article about Apple Music's redesign and music content negotiations, Bloomberg reported:
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Apple has long wanted to release a standout TV product, most likely along with a TV subscription service, but it has been stymied in negotiations with content producers before.
But Apple has made smaller bets on TV shows, including "Planet of the Apps" and "Carpool Karaoke," which will launch on Apple Music, Apple's music subscription service.
Currently, Apple TV, an internet-connected streaming box that plugs into TVs through an HDMI port, is seeing year-over-year declines in sales.
During Apple's most recent earnings call, Cook gave some color on the company's original content ambitions:
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