Apple TV+ snags another former HBO executive

Apple TV+, Apples very own streaming service, is out there, and it’s…doing alright. Shows like The Morning Show have gotten some attention, what with heavy hitters like Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon in the cast. Servant, a new show from M. Night Shyamalan, has gotten some decent buzz, and we can’t forget about See, the post-apocalyptic epic where Jason Momoa plays a blind warrior. That’s…certainly a thing.

Still, I think it’s fair to say that Apple TV+ has yet to find a really compelling original hit that can catapult it into the wider conversation, the way Disney+ found The Mandalorian. Apple TV+ also doesn’t have the huge backlog on content that Disney+ does. So it’s an uphill battle to get noticed, but Apple has a lot of cash to burn and is in this for the long haul. To that end, it’s recruited people like former HBO executive Richard Plepler, who was with the network for 25 years before leaving in 2019 after AT&T bought Time Warner. During his tenure with HBO, Plepler shepherded to air shows like True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones, so for Apple to sign him to a producing deal was no small thing.

And Apple isn’t done. According to Deadline, it’s also snapped up Carmi Zlotnik, another experienced executive who’s worked at HBO, IMG and Starz. While at HBO, Zlotnik supervised production on shows like Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show. While at Starz, he was involved in shows like Power, Outlander, American Gods, The White Queen, Black Sails and Spartacus.

In other words, Zlotnik resume is no joke, and he’s at Apple now, doing his best to put them on top. As the streaming wars heat up, everyone wants to find advantage, and I understand why Apple would want to draft people who have a history of success. That said, the question is whether they their past successes purely to their own talents, or if being in an environment like HBO or Starz allowed them to do their best work.

We won’t really know the answers to those questions until the streaming wars play themselves out for a while. Who will rise? Who will fall? Who will just be fine? Apple TV+ is preparing itself for battle, and I’m very excited to see if their strategy pays off.

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