Apple’s big spending plan to challenge Netflix takes shape

THE PREMIERE DATE IS GETTING CLOSER, WITH THE FIRST COUPLE OF SHOWS LIKELY TO START STREAMING BEFORE THE YEAR IS OUT

NEWYORK: Apple is coming to Hollywood. Delete that. Hollywood is going to Apple. On March 25, a delegation of producers, studio executives and name actors will enter the subterranean 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, for one of those Apple showcases, with the chief executive, Tim Cook, commanding the stage before a crowd of loyalists.

This time around, the focus won’t be on the next must-have device.

With iphone sales showing signs of fatigue, the event is intended to draw attention to the company’s billion-dollar-plus bet on entertainment, an initiative that will put Apple in direct competition with Netflix, Amazon and HBO.

The premiere date for the service is getting closer, with the first of a dozen or more shows likely to start streaming before the year is out.

At next week’s presentation, Apple is expected to reveal details of what it has been working on with stars from both sides of the camera like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Brie Larson, Jason Momoa, Octavia Spencer, JJ Abrams, M Night Shyamalan and

Steven Spielberg.

The tag line, “It’s show time,” appeared prominently on the invitations.

For many of the showbusiness people, this will be their first trip to Cupertino, the corporate home of their new patrons.

Apple didn’t need stars before, but it needs them now. Although the company was the first publicly traded American firm to be valued above $1 trillion, its most recent earnings report showed flat profits and falling revenue.

So the plan is not only to sell devices, but to fill them with content. That has led the company into the alien territory of Hollywood, where local customs can clash with Silicon Valley folkways.

Apple is a relatively late arrival to streaming. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have offered original programming for several years and are now formidable presences at the Emmys.