Apple TV+: Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston and others spearhead launch of streaming platform with original shows

Apple to rival Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services with Apple TV+

Apple has announced the launch of its own streaming service offering new, original shows, in a reveal spearheaded by a crowd of stars including Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jason Momoa and Steve Carell.

The tech giant made the announcement on Monday during one of its signature keynote events, hosted from the Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino, California.

It began with a dramatic reel featuring Spielberg, Sofia Coppola, Aniston, Ron Howard, JJ Abrams, M Night Shyamalan​, Damien Chazelle, Octavia Spencer and others, all discussing story telling and the power of narratives.

Moments prior, CEO Tim Cook had also extolled the virtues of story telling, telling the crowd: ”Great stories can change the world. Great stories can move us and inspire us. They can surprise us and challenge our assumptions.”

After the black-and-white reel played, Spielberg stepped onstage – earning a standing ovation – to discuss a forthcoming revival of his sci-fi eighties series Amazing Stories.

Witherspoon and Aniston followed, teasing a forthcoming series titled The Morning Show, which will explore the power dynamics of men and women in the morning show industry. Aniston noted that the project will mark her return to television, saying she was excited about the move.

Carell made an appearance during Aniston and Witherspoon’s address to discuss his own character on the show – and draw a few laughs from the crowd.

Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard followed to talk about See, a post-apocalyptic series also to be distributed by Apple.

Filmmaker Kumail Nanjiani then introduced his forthcoming show Little America, explaining he wanted to paint a realistic picture of the lives of immigrants in America.

Oprah Winfrey was also among the surprise speakers of the day, and took the stage to announce she had decided to “join forces with Apple”. She mentioned a forthcoming docu-series about mental health, telling the crowd she wanted to contribute to removing the stigma surrounding the topic, and said she would also host book club conversations on the platform. Winfrey also teased a programme about harassment in the workplace.

On a different note, the Sesame Street character Big Bird made an appearance to promote a show aimed at pre-schoolers, suggesting that Apple is targeting a wide audience with its forthcoming streaming service.

With this new service, Apple enters direct competition with the main streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video.

The company says the subscription service will launch this fall, but hasn't revealed yet how much it will cost.