Apple’s Streaming Service Announcement: “It’s Show Time”

Welcome to the streaming wars, Apple!

After years of rumors and months of speculation, we’re finally going to get some details on Apple’s new streaming service. The tech company is hosting a special event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park in Cupertino, California today — and Decider is on the scene. While our hosts have been tight-lipped about the news that’s about to be unveiled, we’re expecting to finally learn the name of Apple’s new streaming service, its launch date, price point, and debut slate of original programming.

We already have some idea of what shows might pop up on day one of Apple’s streaming service. There’s Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston’s morning news dramedy, Octavia Spencer’s crime thriller, and a slew of other projects already finished and ready for their premieres.

Decider.com is in the Steve Jobs Theater and we’ll be doing something of an old school live blog, constantly updating with new news as it drops. Stay tuned and get ready to hit your refresh button. You can also watch the Apple event live stream on Apple TV, or any Apple device.

---

9:50 AM: It’s a brisk and windy day in Cupertino, and Apple Park was full of oppressively friendly staff welcoming guests to today’s event. Right now I’m seated in the Steve Jobs theater. The seats are comfy, and the gossip that Oprah Winfrey is here is good. Apple Music, featuring DJ Zane Lowe, is blasting.

10:00 AM: Apple Presents “A think Different Production…” Okay we’re treated to a sizzle reel of Apple’s innovations over the years.

10:01 AM: Tim Cook emerges to wild applause, like a great, conquering hero or savior. He welcomes us and says today’s going to be a “very different kind of event.”

10:03 AM: Cook is talking about how Apple is the best at integrating hardware, software, and services. Frankly, get to the Oprah.

10:07 AM: First announcement will be about Apple News. Cook is emphasizing how Apple News is curated, putting reputation over clickbait. Apple News is the #1 news app.

10:08 AM: Cook announces that magazines are coming to Apple News.

10:09 AM: Apples News+ will be the new service featuring the magazine subscriptions. Then we get treated to a glossy clip celebrating journalism.

10:12 AM: The new icon for Apple News+ is coral like Apple News, but it looks like three white diagonal slashes.

10:13 AM: It’s worth noting that Apple News+ sounds a lot like a certain Disney+. Plus signs are so hot right now, the minus sign’s gotta feel left out.

10:14 AM: Demo of Apple News+ features live covers, that move like gifs, or Harry Potter portraits.

10:18 AM: It’s worth noting that some headlines are also animated, meaning that editors might have to rethink layouts, etc to look better on Apple News+. Apparently about 300 magazines will be available on launch. It makes one wonder how dependent the print industry will be on Apple going forward.

10:19 AM: Apple News+ will also feature TheSkimm, Vulture, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.

10:20 AM: Apple wants you to know that they don’t track what users are viewing and that they don’t allow advertisers to track reader data. Take that, uh, everyone else?

10:21 AM: Apple News+ will cost $9.99 per month and family sharing is allowed.

10:22 AM: Apple News+ is available TODAY and the first month is free. It will also be available in Canada. It will come to Australia and the UK in the fall.

10:24 AM: Now it’s time for Apple Pay. Cook says they are on target to surpass 10 billion transactions.

10:25 AM: Apple Pay is coming to Portland, Chicago, and NYC’s transit system this year. (FIX THE SUBWAYS, FIRST!!!)

10:26 AM: Apple is introducing Apple Card today. A brand new credit card service??

10:27 AM: Apple Card is designed for iPhone. You sign up on iPhone and within minutes you can use it. You can text questions and concerns about your account via the Messages app.

10:29 AM: Apple Card will also try to help you understand spending habits, with name brand vendors showing up and spending trends. Apple Card’s rewards will be daily cash back – which Apple is calling Daily Cash. (It’s 2% back, and Apple purchases give you 3% Daily Cash back. UPDATE: It’s 1% on the physical card.)

10:33 AM: Apple Card will have no late fees, overseas fees. No fees period. (I want to know who’s regulating all this.)

10:34 AM: I gasp-laughed when they revealed that their banking partner is Goldman Sachs. MasterCard is also a partner.

10:36 AM: Apple Card will also have a physical card for those locations that don’t accept Apple Pay yet. We’re treated to a video showing the creation of a titanium credit card.

10:38 AM: Apple Card is coming later this summer.

10:39 AM: Cook is now talking about updates to the App Store, but I can’t get over how Apple is launching their own version of Fyre Fest fraud mastermind Billy McFarland’s first venture, Magnises, a fake fancy credit card company.

10:41 AM: Apple is launching Apple Arcade, a new service designed to bring higher quality, pay games to players. It’s meant to leapfrog over the problem of the popularity of Free with in-app purchase games.

10:45 AM: Apple Arcade will feature 100+ exclusive games, and will have its own dedicated tab in the App Store. With a subscription, you can download any of the games across your devices. It has a “Switch” like capability and you can play offline. There will be NO ADS! Apple Arcade will also feature family sharing and parental controls.

10:49 AM: Apple Arcade is coming Fall 2019 and will launch in over 150+ countries. More details on pricing to come.

10:50 AM: Time for TV!!! Apple announces an all-new TV app….here it comes.

10:52 AM: Apple’s new TV experience: pay for only the channels you want, all in one app, everything on demand and ad-free, download options, and family sharing. It’s… Apple TV Channels. (or Apple tv channels??)

10:54 AM: Apple TV Channels conspicuously doesn’t have Disney’s titles, or it seems NBC Universal. Which…would have made it an actual game-changer, but you’ll still need to buy other services.

10:55 AM: The new Apple TV app will recommend new titles – which honestly feels like they’re stepping on my own personal turf.

10:56 AM: Stealthy sneak peek at Apple’s own original Dickinson there…I see you title card!

10:57 AM: The Apple TV demo certainly looks like a really great integration of streaming subscription voices, and the new swiping feature is supposed to make searching for a title feel more like old school channel surfing.

11:00 AM: The new Apple TV and Apple TV Channels is coming in May, and the Apple TV app is coming to the Mac this fall.

11:02 AM: Apple will bring it to smart TVs, Roku, and Amazon. (The last two are HUGE for streamers!)

11:03 AM: Tim Cook is back to announce the original programming… a new service: Apple TV+

DAMN THE PLUS SIGN IS BACK!

11:04 AM: “Best stories ever told” is on the screen. Okay. Wow. Cocky.

11:06 AM: We’re now getting a black & white sizzle reel with Spielberg, JJ Abrams, and loads of behind-the-scenes footage of Apple TV+. Oh, Sofia Coppola and M. Night Shyamalan.

11:10 AM: Steven Spielberg is here and people are standing up and applauding him for being…alive?

11:12 AM: Spielberg is talking about how the magazine Amazing Stories introduced him to science fiction, and he’s resurrecting the brand for Apple TV+

11:14 AM: It’s REESE AND JEN!

11:15 AM: Their untiled Morning Show is officially called The Morning Show. AND STEVE CARRELL POPS IN!

11:17 AM: Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard are now on stage. He seems to be having the most fun of anyone so far. They’re in the show See. 

11:19 AM: See takes place in the future after a disastrous virus blinds the few survivors. Woodard says that in this world, the idea of vision is thought of being folkloric.

11:21 AM: Kumail Nanjiani is here to promote his anthology series Little America, which is about the experiences of immigrants encountering a very different America than the one promised in Hollywood movies. It will focus on immigrants living every day lives.

11:25 AM: IT’S BIG BIRD!!!!!!!!!!

11:27 AM: There’s going to be a new Sesame Street show, Helpsters, about monsters who help out. The lead character is a little girl helpster monster who is really into coding.

11:29 AM: Big Bird is followed up by JJ Abrams and Sara Bareilles. They are working on Little Voice, an original musical dramedy about being a singer-songwriter.

11:31 AM: Sara Barielles is now playing Little Voice‘s theme song.

11:33 AM: We’re finally getting a sizzle reel of footage of the Apple TV+ programming.

11:36 AM: Apple TV+ is coming in the fall, ad-free subscription, everything’s downloadable, and it will be available in 100+ countries.

11:38 AM: Oprah Winfrey is here. This is a standing ovation I can really understand.

11:41 AM: Oprah says she has “joined forces with Apple” because they’re the company that has reimagined how we communicate. She says the Apple platform helps her push her message to the next level. “They’re in a billion pockets, y’all.”

11:42 AM: Oprah has two documentaries in the works. One on toxic sexual harassment in the workplace and the other on mental illness and how it’s devastating people all over the globe.

11:44 AM: Oprah is also creating the biggest book club ever with Apple – no one tell Reese.

11:45 AM: Oprah just said, “Appppple!” in her Oprah voice. Playing the hits.

11:48 AM: The event is wrapping up…without an official Apple TV+ launch date or pricing plan.