Apple & ex-HBO chief to team up?
Richard Plepler and his company — RLP & Co. — would create original shows for for Apple's new streaming service
AppleTV+ may be about to get a "Plepler."
Former HBO CEO Richard Plepler is reportedly close to signing a program development deal with the new streaming service that launched Nov. 1. Signing Plepler would be a major salvo in the streaming wars as Plepler's former employer and its parent company, AT&T, prepare to launch HBO Max.
Plepler is one of the most respected and highly regarded media executives who is well known for excellent relations with top talent. The former 30-year HBO veteran was so well thought of by HBO superstar Larry David, that in his 2013 HBO movie, "Clear History," a valuable painting discussed and shown in the movie was called a "Plepler." David told The Hollywood Reporter while he liked Plepler, "It was more that it's a funny-sounding name."
Still dating back to his days as "Seinfeld" executive producer, David has been known to sic his biting wit on network suits he didn't like, as evidenced in the classic "Seinfeld" episode "The Pitch."
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HBO Max is not slated to launch until next spring. AppleTV+ is underway with four new series -- "The Morning Show," "See," "Dickinson" and "For All Mankind" -- which have received mixed reviews.
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Apple did avoid the headaches of Disney+, which launched today amidst a sea of tech glitches. Veteran streaming analyst Dan Rayburn told FOX Business that the AppleTV+ debut "was exactly what we thought it would be." While some critics complained that it lacked the scope of original content of Netflix or Disney, Rayburn says, "they set the expectations pretty clearly" on the amount of original content it would launch with Netflix
