Apple TV has picked up a new comedy series, Small Prophets, for its streaming service in an atypical fashion for the streamer. Rather than commission the project upfront, Apple has bought out the worldwide rights for the series a few months after the show debuted in the UK to record ratings.
Small Prophets was the biggest new scripted series launch for the BBC this year, and Apple will be hoping to replicate its success around the world. It streams on Apple TV starting October 7.
Thanks to this deal, the series will now stream worldwide on Apple TV. Most markets, including the US, will get to watch it on October 7, and it will come to Apple TV in the UK next year. (It is currently exclusive to BBC iPlayer in Britain.)
With a sensibility very much in the vein of other light and airy Apple comedies, like the currently airing Ted Lasso, Small Prophets will fit in well as part of Apple’s catalog. In the show, a group of ordinary kids begin receiving glimpses of the future, and they must figure out whether fate can be changed.
This acquisition play represents the first time Apple has bought out an English-language title in this manner. It has done similar deals in the past for international content, like the French-Japanese drama Drops of God. It shows Apple’s continuing flexibility and willingness to strike deals, as it builds out an ever-growing content library for the service.
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