Just one week after launching its first original television show, Apple confirmed it’s seriousness towards video production when it hired two former Sony television executives to supervise its video programming. The two extremely creative and successful TV execs Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg – presidents of Sony Television Pictures since 2005 will now be overseeing all aspects of video programming, Apple said in a statement on Friday.
The best in the business
Jamie and Zack have been the creative minds behind some of the most popular and widely acclaimed Television shows of the last decade including the top rated shows "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," "The Blacklist," "The Crown," "Preacher" and so on.
They have extensive experience and expertise in the production of television shows for global audiences. They have also been responsible for video programming for a large number of services including shows for Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu which have collectively won 36 Emmy’s, dozens of Golden Globes and several other awards and nominations.
Both of them submitted their resignation to Sony Tv on Thursday and will be reporting to Apple’s Senior Vice-president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue as soon as they start working after their previous contract’s expiration in August.
“Jamie and Zack are two of the most talented TV executives in the world and have been instrumental in making this the golden age of television,” said Eddy Cue.
He also said that Apple has exciting plans in store for its customers and they can’t wait for the two TV executives to bring their expertise to Apple. They are looking forward to what lies ahead.
Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg are delighted to be a part of team Apple. Both of them have shown a lot of excitement towards this new development in the company and have expressed their desire to work towards bringing unparalleled quality to Apple’s video programming so that it is at par with its other consumer products and services.
A good move by Apple but still a long way to go
Although under Steve Jobs, Apple considered television to be a hobby, under CEO Tim Cook, it has been inviting a lot of speculation and certainly trying to make substantial progress in the business.
Netflix is currently leading in the video-on-demand scenario while Amazon comes second in the list.
So, Apple does have a long way to go to reach the success level of entertainment giants such as Netflix or Amazon. Apple hopes that new video content will also help differentiate Apple Music from other rivals such as Spotify.
Bloomberg reported that "Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has been adding documentaries and reality shows to its Apple Music subscription service, providing a way to test video streaming."
