Apple has reportedly hired executives behind TV series 'Breaking Bad' and plans to spend about $1 billion on original programming in the next 12 months.
According to people familiar with the plan quoted by Bloomberg, a team led by former Sony television executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg - hired in June - will produce and buy television shows and films for Apple Music and other future video streaming products. The Wall Street Journal reported the new budget earlier Wednesday.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Apple has accelerated its push into video over the past year as it seeks to double revenue by 2020 from its services business, which includes products such as Apple Music and the App Store. It released the reality shows 'Planet of the Apps' in June and 'Carpool Karaoke' earlier this month.
While the budget of about $1 billion, which the people said is still being finalized, represents an increase in spending for Apple, it is significantly less than the outlays by Netflix and Amazon for original content.