For "Best Leading Man in an Executive Role"... Apple selects ex-HBO CEO Richard Plepler. Now that the tech company launched its Apple TV+ paid streaming service last November, it's hoping the media legends will come. To start, Apple just cast Plepler to train it for the Streaming Wars:
- Before: Plepler led HBO over 27 years to 160+ Emmys, from Game of Thrones to Big Little Lies.
- After: Now his new production company has signed a 5-year exclusive deal to only make shows, documentaries, and films for Apple TV+.
This says more about HBO than Apple... The media icon that brought us The Sopranos and "winter is coming" is now owned by AT&T. Plepler wanted a "Chinese wall" between HBO's creatives and their new telecom-ish parent company (he's got a “Don’t let anyone monkey with your swing” sign on his desk) — but AT&T disagreed. So Plepler quit last March.
The media industry probably never started a year this confused... Take streaming:
- HBO's (still) trying to replace Game of Thrones.
- Netflix had to splurge $13B on original content last year to stay ahead — but it's losing The Office and Friends.
- NBC's jumping in (late) with its new streamer Peacock in April 2020.
- Disney+ may hit 25M subscribers just 2 months after launching.
- And Apple TV+'s The Morning Show already snagged 3 Golden Globe noms — but the rest of its original programming is facing critic hate.
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