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Tim Cook's real content play

Moving the Market: Tim Cook plans to launch the Apple TV+ streaming service within the next few months, sources familiar with the company's plans tell me. But a new Financial Times report stating that Apple has committed $6 billion to original content is inaccurate, those sources said.

• It's significantly less than that.

The big picture: The amount of money Apple has committed to original content is beside the point, because the almost trillion-dollar company can spend whatever it wants on original content whenever it wants.

• Apple is in a different business than Netflix, Disney or HBO. It's investing in original video not as an end, but as a means to draw consumers further into the Apple universe and keep them on the iPhone.

• Apple's grand plan is to bundle its video offering (which will include outside channels like HBO and Showtime) with other services like Apple Music, Apple Arcade, iCloud, etc., and sell consumers on a full package.

• As such, Apple doesn't need to "commit" any specific amount of money to original content. It just needs, or wants, to spend enough to bring in shows that it believes will broaden the appeal of the Apple brand.

The $6 billion figure does serve a purpose, however, which is why you won't see Apple publicly rebut the FT report. It signals that Apple is committed to original content, which is true, and is also something observers doubted when the reported investment was just $1 billion.

• Sources tell me Apple has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to the first two seasons of "The Morning Show," starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell. (New trailer here)

• Apple plans to make similar investments in forthcoming shows from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Octavia Spencer, Jason Momoa and others.

What's next: Apple TV+ will launch this fall with a small collection of original shows and then build its portfolio from there. It has tested various rollout and pricing strategies and may announce more details as early as this week.

• Bloomberg reports that it may cost $9.99 a month, but I'm not so sure about that either.

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Bob Iger takes Disney+ global

Talk of Tinseltown: Bob Iger has confirmed that he will launch the Disney+ streaming service on Nov. 12 with new content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm and National Geographic.

• The service will launch in the U.S. on almost all major platforms, as well as in Canada and the Netherlands. It will launch in Australia and New Zealand one week later, on Nov. 19.

The big picture: With powerful brands, global reach and a clear target audience (namely, families), Disney+ is poised to be the most formidable of all of Hollywood's new streaming services.

• Combined with ESPN+ and Hulu at $12.99, the Disney+ streaming bundle is equally formidable and could pose a direct threat to Netflix.

🇨🇳 Talk of the Trail 🇨🇳

State disinformation: Facebook and Twitter have both removed troll accounts linked to China that aimed to fuel political discord in Hong Kong, an unprecedented sign of China's efforts to fuel propaganda via social media, my colleague Ben Collins reports.

• Plus, Twitter says it will no longer accept advertising from state-controlled news media organizations.

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Mark Zuckerberg's news plan

Big in Menlo, big in Manhattan: Facebook will post job listings today seeking "seasoned journalists" to curate stories for News Tab, a new service that will aggregate news from reliable publishers — mostly via algorithm, but with a helping hand from human editors.

• This is not another Apple News. The top stories and breaking news items of the day will be selected by humans, yes, but the rest of the content will be determined algorithmically based on user data and preferences.

• These editors will only select stories and link back to the original sources. They will not edit headlines or stories or write their own content.

• So why hire human editors at all? Facebook wants to personally vet the stories that appear in its top news section and ensure that it's directing readers to the original reports, rather than aggregated copies.

The big picture: Facebook's decision to hire human editors isn't about moving toward human curation; it's about compensating for what the algorithm can't do ⁠— for now. In Mark Zuckerberg's ideal world, Top News would appear algorithmically.

• Word to the wise: Should you get a job on the News Tab team, be prepared for editors at NYT, WSJ, etc., to constantly hound you about why their stories aren't being placed in the Top News section.

Background reading, from August 8: "Facebook Offers News Outlets Millions of Dollars a Year to License Content," by WSJ's Ben Mullin and Sahil Patel.

Market Links

• President Trump launches a Google conspiracy (TC)

• States move forward with Big Tech antitrust probe (WSJ)

• Shari Redstone unveils her 13-member board (Variety)

• Bob Bakish's pay will rise to $31m after merger (THR)

• Mark Halperin's book deal sets off a firestorm (NYT)

🇺🇸🎵 What's next: A 2020 soundtrack. The New York Times has analyzed the playlists of 10 presidential candidates to see how the songs align with their core message.

See you tomorrow.