Apple, escalating its ambitions to rival Netflix as a top-shelf streaming outlet, said Friday that it signed a multi-year "content partnership" with
Oprah Winfrey, one of TV's biggest stars, to create original series.
As usual, the company was scarce on details of exactly how, what and when Winfrey would contribute to Apple, though it said in statement that the shows will "embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world."
Apple won't even say how it plans to make available nearly a dozen scripted series it's already announced, from the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, M. Night Shyamalan and "Battlestar Galactica" creator Ron Moore. But Winfrey is expected to appear in at least some of the programs she helps create.
The deal is a major coup for the computer giant, and the next step in Winfrey's show-business career, after she seemingly ruled out a presidential run after a recruitment movement sparked by her impassioned Oscars speech.
The former talk-show host already created her own cable network, OWN, in 2011 with Discovery Communications, which increased its ownership stake to 70% in December with a $70 million purchase of an additional 25%. (She still retains about 25%, and extended her contract there as chairman and CEO through 2025.)
But apart from a few interview series, Winfrey has not had a direct hand in creating programming for the network, which includes series such as "Queen Sugar" and "Greenleaf."