[Robo]

That is super cheap. I was expecting double that.

That’s not an announcement, though; that’s a leak from 9to5.

On the Apple TV+ front, Bloomberg reports that it’ll be $9.99/mo, which is what I expected, and that it will launch with five shows: Amazing Stories, The Morning Show, See, Truth be Told and the documentary series Home. That’s…not a lot for a service that doesn’t have library content. I do understand the need to be able to release new shows through the year, though – they can’t just dump the season for all their shows in September.

I would be surprised if TV+ launches without For All Mankind, though. They’re setting that up to be one of their flagship series.

The WSJ reported that Apple is spending $15M/episode for See, which is, like, final-season-of-Game of Thrones money. According to the Financial Times, they’re spending even more on The Morning Show, which is just bonkers to me. But I guess they got the cash…

Bloomberg says TV+ will launch in November, while Financial Times says it’ll launch “in the next two months.” I think the further they can get out ahead of Disney+, the better – that’s going to suck up all the oxygen out of the streaming service room this holiday, and it’s not like Apple is going to be able to match them for content at launch.

I can’t help but think that Apple should have bid for the rights to, like, Friends. And The Office. But regardless of its prudence, I’m glad they’re spending money on making a lot of new shows instead. That supports a lot more people in showbiz and spreads that money around a lot more. Plus, we get new shows out of it. Win-win!