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A New Report Outlines Apple's Reluctance For Mature Content On Its Streaming Service (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the gosh-darn-it dept.

A new report from The Wall Street Journal details the state of Apple's yet-to-be-unveiled streaming service. "It highlights some of the difficulties Apple has faced in striking the right tone for its content, particularly when it comes to 'gratuitous sex, profanity or violence,' and cites sources who expect the launch of the streaming service to be pushed further back," reports The Verge. From the report: The report opens with Apple CEO Tim Cook's reaction to Vital Signs, a show based on the life of Dr. Dre. Apple picked up the show back in 2016, but when Cook viewed it a year ago, he told Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine that it was too violent, and that the company can't show it. Apple has some big plans for its original content ambitions. It brought in two seasoned Hollywood executives to oversee its video streaming project, and invested $1 billion to develop new a slate of new projects. Judging from those acquisitions, the company is swinging for the fences it's picked up a reboot of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, a space show from Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore, a network drama starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, a show based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and more.

The WSJ report notes that Apple's preference is for family-friendly projects that appeal to a broad audience, and that it's trying to avoid weighing into overly political or controversial territory with the content that it's producing -- only a handful of those shows "veer into 'TV-MA' territory." Apple's approach doesn't come as a huge surprise: it's been described as "conservative and picky." The company has long forbidden adult content from its App Store, rigorously removing Apps that even display NSFW content, like Vine or 500px. TV executives note in the report that where streaming services can simply weather a boycott or lose some subscribers, alienating audiences could prompt viewers to boycott Apple's hardware.

21 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. boring boring awesome boring boring good by TimothyHollins · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    a space show from Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore

    From TFA, I don't care about anything other than this part. There just aren't enough space shows around these days, and I loved the new BSG. If they can set the tone of BSG season 1 I will watch it til the end of days.

    I just hope they don't get lost in pointless side-stories without purpose that never wrap up like BSG eventually did.

    As for the rest, I don't /. is the intended audience for Reese Witherspoon or Dr. Dre, but Asimov's Foundation has me mildly optimistic.

  2. Why would anyone be surprised? by yodleboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why would anyone be surprised? This is APPLE. A company that has done quite well being a hand holding, app curating, experience controlling nanny to millions of people. Why would they change?

    1. Re:Why would anyone be surprised? by Calydor · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a metaphor or not, but either way I can't see Apple putting a blanket ban on anything remotely controversial is going to be definitively good for your children.

      Your literal neighbor can STILL rip off his pants and tell your kids it'll be their little secret, and your kids can STILL get photos of naked girls and/or boys from their friends at school.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:Why would anyone be surprised? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      us people with children quite like knowing that the neighbor we allow our children to spend time with are not trying to expose them to content they are not yet mature enough to process yet.

      So are you expecting people to ditch all other ways to get entertainment and rely solely on this latest iProduct? I mean, it probably is in the T&C but I can't see it happening.

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  3. It works for Disney by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    I doubt apple is shooting for the full Disney G rating but it seems like differentiating your brand by doing something hard is valuable and apple knows it. They can always sell edgier stuff on non-apple brands on itunes. nothing is lost to the consumer but something is gained.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:It works for Disney by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      ...it seems like differentiating your brand by doing something hard is valuable...

      Giggidy.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:It works for Disney by Nutria · · Score: 1

      Edgy doesn't require explicit sex and foul language, The 1950s showed that, making all sorts of movies about rape, cheating preachers, incest, etc.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    3. Re:It works for Disney by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 2

      Edgy doesn't require explicit sex and foul language, The 1950s showed that, making all sorts of movies about rape, cheating preachers, incest, etc.

      Exactly.

      I'd ask "edge of what?" I'd like to watch stuff on the edge of good storytelling.

      The golden age of movies was when they had the production code. You had to actually be able to tell a good story, not just activate the limbic system.

  4. To the fainting couches by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    If you are going to run a streaming service, I'd say the bar for morality has to be set by Disney - and they are running way worse stuff that what Apple is balking at.

    If Apple wants a successful video streaming service, they can't just all be hour long videos of Ive talking slowly about aluminum. Otherwise they'll end up being worse even than Prime Video (I joke but actually Prime video is slowly getting better, just Netflix is still 10x ahead in good show development).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. "mature" by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I know what people mean by it, but I still find it amusing that gratuitous sex and violence in media is called "mature".

    1. Re: "mature" by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1

      Actually, extreme violence and bare skin will see a ' mature ' rating. If you dare cross the line and engage in any sexual conduct, it gets slapped with an ' Adults Only ' rating and no publisher will dare touch it.

      Only in the US is it fine to behead or blow up half the actors in a video game / movie, but flash a breast and everyone gets out the pitchforks :|

    2. Re:"mature" by mentil · · Score: 1

      Because if it were called 'adolescent' people might start to wonder why TV show writing is so poor. Or feel insulted when they realize how immature they are.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  6. Putting sex in with violence ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... is the really fucked-up part of that.

    You know ... Murder, torture, inquisition, brutality, assault, war, self-mutilation, suicide, terror, ... the loving and immensely fun act of making children or acting as if, that is literally essential to human survival.

    Hmm ... Which one of those does not belong? Any idea? :P

    How this even flies, outside of the IS, Vatican and Israel (You know, Abrahamic "God" states.) ...is horrifying.
    Anyone who treats sex like this, is the same type of person as a IS terrorist. Just in a nicer environment.

  7. The only sex they want their users to experience by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

    Is Apple bending them over with high prices, shoddy build quality, and class-action-lawsuit-based customer service.

  8. Remember BETAMAX? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Remember the format war between VHS and BETAMAX? One had better quality players, better resolution, smaller tapes for more storage. The other had porn allowed on it. Which one survived?

    1. Re: Remember BETAMAX? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      That assumes that porn was the only deciding factor and also assumes an exclusive binary choice in formats. Back in the era of the VCR format wars, the problem with supporting both was barrier to entry. It was expensive for electronic manufacturers and content makers to support both formats. Very few consumers could afford both machines.

      Today what is the barrier to supporting Apple's streaming service and another one like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc? An app and creating a subscription account. Consumers can choose all or none or somewhere in between.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    2. Re: Remember BETAMAX? by dfghjk · · Score: 1

      Porn was a major factor but not the only one, as you say. Furthermore, porn is just one content type and porn producers were subject to the same restrictions as you mentioned. Finally, VHS had something Beta did not, 2 hour play. That was a far bigger deal than image quality as TVs weren't always very good back then. VHS won because there could only be one winning format (due to expense) and 2 hours per tape was more valuable than better resolution.

      It's funny how those who like to cite VHS vs. Beta don't demonstrate sufficient knowledge about it to even prove they were alive back then.

  9. Re:Streaming service or steaming service? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Definitely number 2.

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  10. IOW by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Apple is a friend without benefits.

  11. The benefits far outweigh ... by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    ... the missed opportunities for Apple. 50% of Apple is a premium fashion brand. They would be very stupid to spoil that with lowlife loser content. Their phones are sexy. People who use their phones are sexy (at least that's what they need to think). Their stuff needs to be sexy, in order to justify the 50% premium on their price.
    Cook and Co. couldn't care less about a few bucks extra from pr0nhub deluxe. It would probably hurt their market cap on a global scale.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  12. The benefits by far outweigh ... by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    ... the missed opportunities for Apple. 50% of Apple is a premium fashion brand. They would be very stupid to spoil that with lowlife loser masturbation content. Their phones are sexy. People who use their phones are sexy and can get laid for real anytime (at least that's what they need to think). Their stuff needs to be sexy, in order to justify the 50% premium on their price. Pr0n does not fit into that picture.

    Cook and Co. couldn't care less about a few bucks extra from pr0nhub deluxe. It would probably even hurt their market cap on a global scale.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca