Oprah signs deal to create original programming for Apple

The Hollywood Reporter

Apple announced it has signed Oprah Winfrey to a multi-year content partnership deal to "create original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.” The deal falls outside of her work on Oprah Winfrey Network. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the pact includes everything from film, TV, applications, books and other content that could easily be distributed on Apple's all-encompassing platform," Other tech giants, likely Netflix and Amazon, were also pursuing Oprah, reports The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg, but "Apple is said to have aggressively pursued Winfrey as part of a larger push to reach a broad audience." As Deadline notes, Oprah's OWN "exclusivity is for ad-supported cable only, and she is allowed to produce and appear on-camera on other platforms on a limited basis. Under these exceptions she is a contributor on CBS’ 60 Minutes and last year executive produced and co-starred in the HBO movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Also as part of that, she can produce and appear in projects for Apple."