It’s not just Hollywood studios fighting for top talent anymore. The tech giants have officially entered the fray, too. Today, Apple inked its biggest deal to date, signing up none other than Oprah Winfrey for a multi-year content partnership.
The veteran media personality will create original programming for Apple’s forthcoming content slate, but she will also remain chairman and CEO of her OWN cable network. It’s unclear what the programming will be, but the Hollywood Reporter writes that it will include “everything from film, TV, applications, books and other content that could easily be distributed on Apple’s all-encompassing platform.”
The deal comes as tech companies scoop up more and more top talent, the kind once reserved for traditional entertainment and media brands. Netflix recently signed up a number of big names, including Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, and even Barack and Michelle Obama. Apple’s content plans first made waves last year after it struck a deal with Steven Spielberg. And last month, Facebook signed a deal with Major League Baseball to stream 25 afternoon games this year.
Which is to say that everyone seems to have media ambitions. The Oprah deal is surely big for Apple, given her beloved status and broad appeal among generations of viewers. We’ve seen her on both the silver and TV screen–now we wait to see how she translates to the iPhone screen.
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