All that Apple did not tell us about its streaming TV service

Apple announced today its Apple TV Plus streaming service, as well as a handful of original TV shows in preparation, but it has skipped just about every essential detail beyond their name. . This includes the price, a release date, or a real sense of the company's strategy, leaving open many questions about how Apple plans to penetrate this burgeoning streaming space.

Today's event was a real marketing boost: a parade of stars such as Jason Momoa, Oprah, J.J. Abrams and Big Bird honored the Apple scene. Apple has promised that the streaming service will become "the new home of the world's most creative storytellers".

But the show could not distract from the fact that important details were missing.

What to watch and when?

Today's event was lacking: it was impossible to see these shows happen on the new Apple service. Apple has announced that Apple TV Plus will be launched in the fall, but it has not specified which series will be available at launch, how often the new series would arrive or whether Apple will broadcast weekly programs. or simultaneously for reasons of frenzy. look like Netflix does.

Apple played a brief video montage teasing several shows, but this montage did not live up to the full trailers to explain why we would like to watch each series. Apple has mostly let a group of Hollywood stars talk about their hopes and dreams of service. We know there is a science fiction show called See with Jason Momoa, we know that Steven Spielberg brings back an almost century-old fantasy anthology called Amazing storiesand Oprah makes a documentary about workplace harassment called Toxic work, as well as an untitled title on mental health.

Here is the complete list of shows that Apple has teased on stage – as well as a second, longer list of video projects the company has already brought to Greenlit.

How many?

Apple also did not tell us how much it would cost. There had been rumors before today 's event that Apple would make its original content free of charge in order to attract customers on the service before they subscribe. to bundles of networks including HBO, Starz and Showtime, with Apple making its money by taking a cut from the subscription revenue.

But it seems that it will not necessarily be the case. On stage today, Apple has also announced a separate TV service called Apple TV Channels, where streaming services such as HBO will be available a la carte, allowing you to "pay only for the channels of your choice". Apple TV channels will be launched in May, several months before Apple TV Plus, giving the impression that less likely that Apple's content is a gift to attract customers.

We also do not know how much Apple will charge to subscribe to one of these other channels – the rumor says that they would each cost an extra $ 10 a month – or if bundles would be offered with a discount. Will we save money by opting for Apple instead of paying separately? All that Apple has said for the moment is that its own service will be ad-free.

Why Apple instead of competitors?

We know that Apple puts a strong focus on services because it can no longer rely on selling the iPhone to generate revenue growth. But why consumers will want to pay attention to these the question of services remains an open question – especially with regard to streaming TV, where services such as Netflix, HBO and Hulu are already well-established and well-established brands with their own streaming applications and extensive catalogs. Backgrounds containing a lot of things to watch. We still do not know exactly who TV Plus is for.

Apple has let his recruited talent do most of the talking and explanation today. He mentioned Jason Momoa, J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. But Apple itself has not heard much about why it chose to develop these programs, beyond some great platitudes about storytelling. Television and movies are a whole new space in which Apple has to embark – a space that involves complicated decisions about content, tastes and culture. Apple has not yet fully explained how it would fulfill these responsibilities, but today it showed that Apple was at least willing to spend a lot to make a place on television.