An article in the daily Corriere della Sera newspaper reads that Pietro Minto reports the Anglo-saxon critics of the first TV show by Apple. This programme, Planet of the App, is a talent show where wannabe startuppers propose their ideas for new (and they reckon they’re revolutionary) apps to a jury composed of actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba, rapper and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.
Reactions, maybe predictably, were not enthusiastic. According to critics, the major problem lies with the viewer’s inability to forget, even for a little bit, to watch an Apple show, because every minute of broadcast is a commercial for its brand: competitors propose apps for the iOS operating system, judges vote through an iPad, viewers need Apple Music to watch the show (this excludes anyone who doesn’t own a Mac or an Apple device from vision), and you need to download another app to vote. Besides the brilliant idea of the title (a pun on the famous film Planet of the Apes), the first Apple’s TV experiment seems to be a failure.
However, Apple is not the only one to take its first and doubtful steps in the world of television: the main Internet platforms (such as Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube) contribute to further enlarging the boundaries of television. YouTube, for instance, created Red last year, an paid subscription (unseen in Italy) through which users can access Red Originals content, actual TV formats managed by famous YouTubers, for 9.99 dollars per month (good money if we consider that Netflix’s basic version in the U.S. costs 8 dollars per month, the premium one costs 12 and it provides a much wider catalogue).
Facebook is no better: according to the Wall Street Journal of late June, the social network is strengthening its partnership strategy with famous newspapers (BuzzFeed and Vox Media) for the co-production of original content. The first title on the list is Strangers, produced with Rafinery29 (a known women’s online magazine), a series about the life of the 28-year-old Zoe Chao who cheats on her historic boyfriend with another woman. So, Facebook’s intention is to aim for young audiences (13-34 years), following a model resembling the early days of MTV.
Despite the difficulties due to fierce competition of Facebook (and, consequently, of Instagram), even Snapchat made deals with famous people of American television, such as Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien, to produce original content which will be known as Snapchat Show. Despite Apple’s failure, the future of television seems to be more mobile-oriented, as shown by the creation of apps (such as Blackpills) dedicated exclusively to the use of serial content.
