Oprah Winfrey and Apple join forces to change media
Oprah Winfrey is partnering with Apple to release original programming under a new multi-year contract, the global tech company announced in a press release Friday.
According to Apple, the new slate of shows will embrace Winfrey's "incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world". The announcement did not state a release date for the programming or provide details about what the shows' content would entail.
However, according to The Hollywood Reporter (citing multiple anonymous sources), the deal includes "everything from film, TV, applications, books and other content that could easily be distributed on Apple's all-encompassing platform". Podcasts will reportedly not be included since Winfrey has her own platform for that.
Winfrey currently has several other shows on her cable network, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which she founded in 2011 with Discovery Communications. However, the media mogul and entertainer first established her career in television as the talk-show host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was on the air for 25 years.
CNN reports that Winfrey's new partnership will not affect her contract with OWN, which was recently extended to 2025 for $70 million. CNN also states that Winfrey is expected to have an on-screen role as a host and interviewer in the Apple deal.
Oprah's partnership is the latest in a slate of originals that Apple is set to launch. According to Variety, the streamer is preparing shows like a reboot of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, a psychological thriller series from executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, the crime podcast drama series called Are You Sleeping? starring Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul, an Emily Dickinson series starring Hailee Steinfeld, and others.
Winfrey has not provided a statement or further details about the new partnership.
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