Apple Inc sets aside an estimated $1 billion for Hollywood content programming

Apple Inc looks interested in entering the original video content market, as it is believed that the US tech giant has set aside around $1 billion to spend on Hollywood. [caption id=“attachment_2647472” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, considering the estimate, Apple Inc could acquire and produce up to ten TV shows. The estimated figure is said to be half of Time Warner Inc’s HBO’s spending on original content. This is, however, close to what Amazon had spent, before venturing into original content. Meanwhile, earlier in June, Apple Inc had **hired co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television**, Jamie Erlicht and Zack van Amburg. who are known to have produced shows such as Breaking Bad, The Crown, amongst others. Recently even Facebook had shown an inclination towards producing original content. As per WSJ’s previous report, the Silicon Valley tech company was willing to pay around $3 million per episode. With the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video already in the market with a strong fan following, the two tech giants will face stiff competition. As per a previous report, Apple’s online video sales had  **seen a fall in the US**, unlike its contemporaries Amazon and cable provider Comcast. Infact, Netflix and Amazon had a huge impact on the fall of iTunes performance in the online video sales. Its share of movie rental and sales fell from 50 percent in 2012 to under 35 percent. According to the WSJ, Apple was not available for comments.