(March 24, 2019 – Source: Michael Short/Getty Images North America)
*Well, it looks like the end of the road for media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Apple+ TV’s partnership. According to reports, Oprah Winfrey and Apple+ TV are calling it quits four years after signing a multi-year deal.
The news comes just a few days after the release of their latest project, Syndey, a piece on the legendary life of actor Sidney Poitier.
Apple+ TV confirmed that the original contract with Oprah Winfrey was not renewed. However, sources believe the pair may still work together on a project-by-project basis. In addition to that, Oprah and Apple+TV will continue to collaborate on Oprah’s Book Club, which is available on Apple Books and OprahDaily.com.
Oprah was one of the first major stars to sign a deal with Apple TV+ in 2018. The partnership between Oprah and Apple TV+ includes film, TV, applications, books, and other content that was distributed on Apple’s all-encompassing platform…
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Wait. There’s more …
When you think about it, Winfrey, 68, did a lot to help put Apple TV+ on the map when it was a relative newcomer to the streaming space. That’s because – unlike its competitors such as Netflix – Apple did not have a deep library of content at launch, reports the LA Times.
“Apple wanted to announce it had arrived and it was a force to be reckoned with,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “Signing up Oprah was a pretty strong message.”
Well, now that Apple has got its TV/streaming legs, so to speak, Thompson reminds us that the entity has less need for such a high-profile nonexclusive deal.
What’s more, Thompson noted, while Winfrey has brought content to Apple TV+, some of her most talked about work wasn’t on the streaming platform.
If you recall, her explosive interview with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was on CBS.
“The Apple platform allowed me to do what I do in a new way,” Winfrey said at an Apple press event in 2019. “They’re a company that reimagined how we communicate … [they’re] in a billion pockets, y’all. That represents a major opportunity to make a genuine impact.”
Fun Facts: Apple TV+ charges $4.99 a month, and has roughly 40 million paid subscribers, according to estimates from Wedbush Securities.
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