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Apple Inc. appears to have finally figured out how to become an entertainment programming company and it didnt have to buy Netflix or Time Warner to do it. Apple is making the rounds in Hollywood, seeking to buy highquality original TV series and perhaps movies. The idea is to supplement the Apple Music streaming song service with more digital video, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Think of Apple creating shows with similar quality and buzz to Netflixs series "Stranger Things" but available only to subscribers who a month for Apple Music.

For people who havent been following the company closely, this is approximately the th attempt by Apple to become a significant entertainment company.It tried for years to negotiate deals with big media companies or cable TV providers to create its own cable televisionlike service with a lineup of live TV channels. It has never worked because big media companies were slow to shift away from traditional TV business models and because Apple was an arrogant jerk of a business partner. Apple also considered making its own television sets and made some early overtures to acquire its way into the media and entertainment business.But Apple has finally landed on an ideal strategy to go big in Hollywood. This time, Apple is trying to become HBO, not Netflix and not a cable company.

Think about it: HBO is an enviable media business thanks to a handful of buzzgenerating shows for which people are willing to a month to add to their cable TV lineup or their internet programming bill. Apples choice of a similar path has the benefit of not requiring the cooperation of wary big media companies. And an HBOlike video offer is ideally suited to the profound shift in media consumption away from traditional TV and toward smartphones. Its also far less expensive than than the or more it would take to buy Netflix.

HBOs parent company, Time Warner Inc., says there are about global subscribers to HBO and its sister channel, Cinemax. U.S. subscribers are perhaps half of the total customer count. Thats far more than Apple has drawn so far with Apple Music, which is estimated to have ing customers in a relatively short months. Its easy to imagine Apple as HBO has done starting with original TV series and later adding more video programming including live events or sports. That is a scenario that longtime Apple analyst Neil Cybart wrote about last fall. Turning Apple Music into another HBO would not be a hugely expensive investment by Apples standards. HBO was on track to spend more than in for its movies and TV shows, including its lavish exclusive series such as "Westworld." Apples business generates that much cash in less than two weeks. Apple Musics broadening into streaming video has been hidden in plain sight for a while. The company has made concert documentaries with musicians including Taylor Swift. Apple is working on its own TV series loosely based on the life of hip hop music star Dr. Dre, and it agreed to for a TVlength version of "Carpool Karaoke," a musicthemed comedy sketch thats part of a CBS late night talk show. All are taking Apple Music into more video programming. One trouble for Apples entertainment foray is that while HBO is a huge financial success by the standards of the media industry, it is a blip by Apples standards. HBO generated nearly in revenue over the past months, and . in operating income. That was about percent of Apples in operating profit for latest fiscal year. This is always going to be the problem for Apple. Any new business it enters will inevitably be small, at least at first. Ive been skeptical about Apples efforts to pitch itself not as a hardware company but as a seller of digital entertainment, apps and software tied together by iPhones, Macs and iPads. Ultimately, the company has no choice but to stretch further into digital entertainment. Apples massive hardware sales have stopped growing, and its not clear they can ever return to the sustained level of growth investors have come to expect. Maybe the best way to think about Apples Hollywood splash is one step in the companys slow shift into a singles hitter rather a player that only swings for home runs. Apple has been a relatively low volume but high margin consumer hardware company. Its a minority seller of smartphones and computers but generates more profit than anyone else in the industry.Imagine the Apple of the future starting to take bites of many kinds of digital interactions. A slice of revenue from an Apple Pay purchase here, a cut of app downloads there, plus tens of s of paid subscriptions to Apples own version of HBO. Its not clear that will add up to a meaningful amount of money for a company of Apples size. But the gadget business is tough now, and that makes Apples doityourself route into Hollywood look more appealing.

ATM Machines Are Going Nuts Do not put any money in your bank again

ATM Machines Are Going Nuts
Do not put any money in your bank again