Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook
After months of delays, Apple's first big original video series, "Carpool Karaoke," will finally debut on August 8, Apple's software and services boss Eddy Cue tweeted Tuesday.In April, Reuters reported that the launch of the show, which features high-profile celebrities doing karaoke in a car, had been delayed after a launch party was abruptly canceled.
At the time, an Apple spokesperson told Reuters that "Carpool Karaoke: The Series will premiere on Apple Music later this year."
"Carpool Karaoke" began its life as a segment on CBS' "The Late Show with James Corden," and Apple acquired the rights in July 2016.
The plan was to use it to bolster the lineup of Apple Music, Apple's music streaming service, as it attempts to compete with major rival Spotify. The company has also produced some original music-focused documentaries - like one about the iconic Roland TR-808 drum machine, and another about British musician Skepta. It recently also acquired exclusive rights to a documentary about label executive Clive Davis.
The original "Carpool Karaoke" starred James Corden in each segment. Corden will still feature in the new show, but a trailer released earlier this year shows he won't appear in every installment.
Carpool Karaoke's delay wasn't the first hiccup for Apple's fledgling original video content ambitions. In February, it released the trailer for "Planet of the Apps," a forthcoming reality TV show about app development. The trailer was met with a mixed reception; many Apple fans mocked it, and one app developer who works at Apple even said they were "ashamed to work for Apple" because of it.
Apple is reportedly also planning a more significant push into original video content in the vein of HBO's "Westworld" or Netflix's "Stranger Things," according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.