The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning a March 25 event to announce both services, according to people familiar with the plan. The iPhone maker invited Hollywood stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner and director JJ Abrams, to attend, one of the people said.

The video service is similar to Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video and Netflix Inc. products, and will include TV shows and movies either acquired or funded by Apple. The company has created dozens of original programs so far, but hasn’t wrapped them in a subscription yet. The paid service will launch by the summer, the people said. They asked not to be identified discussing private plans.

The company’s premium news service will be integrated into the Apple News app, letting consumers subscribe to a bundle of titles for a monthly fee. Some publishing executives are wary of taking part, Bloomberg News reported in December.

Final details are still being worked out, and Apple’s plans could change. An Apple spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment. BuzzFeed earlier reported that the News subscription service would launch on March 25.

With iPhone sales slowing, Apple is turning to digital services to keep revenue growing. Apple Music is already a hit with more than 50 million subscribers. Wall Street is speculating that the company will eventually roll many of these offerings into one bundled monthly subscription, similar to Amazon’s successful Prime program.

Apple has been working on its streaming video service for a number of years under the guidance of former Sony Pictures executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht. Bloomberg News reported last year that Apple would begin rolling out the shows in 2019.

The content is likely to be integrated into Apple’s TV app on iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs, which launched in 2016. Along with an Apple subscription, there will be some free content. Users will also be able to pay to access shows from other providers, such as Starz, as is possible with Amazon’s video service. Today, Apple offers a handful of free shows, such as "Carpool Karaoke" and "Planet of the Apps."

The magazine subscription service, which has been in testing with Apple employees for months, will launch as part of an iOS 12.2 update scheduled for release this spring. The updated Apple News app will include a Magazines tab similar to the app Texture, which Apple acquired last year.

A24 is responsible for movies like "Moonlight," "Room," "The Witch," "Ex Machina," "The Spectacular Now," "It Comes at Night," "Lady Bird," "The Disaster Artist," "Hereditary," and more.

A24 has existing deals with DirecTV and Amazon, and those deals will remain in effect even though the entertainment company has now entered into a partnership with Apple. A24 will continue to produce and release movies outside of its partnership with Apple.

Apple's deal with A24 is a sign that the Cupertino company also plans to delve into films as well as television shows. Apple has more than a dozen original high-profile TV shows in the works, but has thus far signed few movie deals.

Apple's original television shows and movies are expected to be included in an upcoming rumored streaming service, which could debut in early 2019.

Apple may be planning to bundle its service with Apple Music and an Apple News subscription service for magazines, and at least some of the content could be made available for free through the TV app.

Seven years later, the world is still waiting. But Apple’s not giving up, even if it isn’t revolutionizing the industry.

Apple is preparing a new digital video service that will marry original content and subscription services from legacy media companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Owners of Apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV will find the still-in-the-works service in the pre-installed “TV” application, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details of the project are private.

The product will include Apple-owned content, which will be free to Apple device owners, and subscription “channels,” which will allow customers to sign up for online-only services, such as those from HBO and Starz.

Apple plans to debut the revamped app early next year, the people said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

As Bloomberg reported in May, the subscription channels will essentially copy Amazon’s Prime Video Channel subscriptions. Customers will be able to access all of their content from within the TV app so they won’t need to download individual apps from multiple media providers.

Apple is spending about $1 billion on original content this year, targeting “PG-rated” shows that appeal to wide audiences and won’t get the company in trouble by making them available for free to owners of all devices, said the people. Apple is also looking for “tent pole” franchises that could serve as linchpins to a paid Netflix-like subscription service down the road, two of the people said. Think “Game of Thrones,” but without the sex and violence. The Wall Street Journal reported last month Apple has about 24 original shows in production and development.

Media companies are wary

Finding those types of shows — wholesome series that can also have widespread appeal — won’t be easy.

Apple has long struggled to reach deals with large media companies, which have been hesitant to hand over direct consumer relationships to the tech giant. The collapse of the music industry, which some media executives blamed partly on Apple’s industry-defining 99-cent price for single songs, has hampered Apple’s attempt to push forward cable TV to a more consumer-friendly product.

Apple’s current software and services chief, Eddy Cue, in particular, earned a starring role in Apple’s push toward selling individual songs, which helped kill album sales and ushered in the era of streaming music. As a result, media executives have been reluctant to let Cue and CEO Tim Cook access their prized video content to repackage it in ways that could disintermediate the lucrative cable bundle.

This time, Apple is counting on someone who knows legacy media companies to lead the charge. Peter Stern, who joined Apple in 2016, has been tasked with striking contracts with media companies to put together the service, said people familiar with the matter. Stern, who reports to Cue, was Time Warner Cable’s chief strategy officer. He eventually helped sell the company — first to Comcast (a deal that got blocked by regulators) and then to Charter. He left in 2016 after Charter’s takeover closed.

Coming from the cable TV industry may help Stern hammer out deals that will give Apple’s TV service top content while not scaring off executives who still fear Apple’s control over the industry.

Apple is also trying to persuade executives of print media companies to join Texture, the company’s digital magazine product that it acquired earlier this year. Stern is also in charge of acquiring content for this effort and has had some difficulty persuading news organizations to give Apple control of the subscriber billing relationship, according to people familiar with the matter. Keeping direct control of customers’ purchasing decisions gives companies more ways of preventing them from canceling services (or adding new ones).

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It’s too violent, Mr. Cook told Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine, said people familiar with Apple’s entertainment plans. Apple can’t show this.

Across Hollywood and inside Apple, the show has become emblematic of the challenges faced by the technology giant as it pushes into entertainment. Apple earmarked $1 billion for Hollywood programming last year. But in the tone CEO Mr. Cook has set for it, whatever Apple produces mustn’t taint a pristine brand image that has helped the company collect 80% of the profits in the global smartphone market.

Apple’s entertainment team must walk a line few in Hollywood would consider. Since Mr. Cook spiked “Vital Signs,” Apple has made clear, say producers and agents, that it wants high-quality shows with stars and broad appeal, but it doesn’t want gratuitous sex, profanity or violence.

The result is an approach out of step with the triumphs of the video-streaming era. Other platforms, such as HBO and Amazon.com Inc.,have made their mark in original content with edgier programming that often wins critical acclaim. Netflix Inc., which helped birth the streaming revolution, built its original-content business on “House of Cards,” a drama about an ethically bankrupt politician, and “Orange Is the New Black,” a comedic drama about a women’s prison. Both feature rough language and plenty of sex.

As a consumer-product company, Apple is especially exposed if content strikes a sour note, said Preston Beckman, a former NBC and Fox programming executive. For Netflix, the only risk is that people don’t subscribe, he said. “With Apple, you can say, ‘I’m going to punish them by not buying their phone or computer.’ "

Apple has twice postponed the launch of its first slate of shows, moving it to March from late this year, agents and producers said. One leading producer with projects at Apple expects the date to be pushed back yet further.

Hollywood routinely humbles big companies that try to join its club. In 2014, Microsoft Corp.closed its Hollywood unit, Xbox Entertainment Studios, before it got off the ground. Coca-ColaCo., which owned Columbia Pictures in the 1980s, found its success with “Ghostbusters” and “Stand by Me” was outweighed by expensive flops such as “Ishtar.”

Entertainment is “irrational and unpredictable,” said Peter Sealey, a consultant who led marketing for Coke’s Hollywood business. Apple excels at devices and Coke at soft drinks, he said, but “movies and TV are none of that. They’re emotional.”

Mr. Cook told analysts in July that Apple wasn’t ready to detail its Hollywood plans, but he felt “really good about what we will eventually offer.” The company didn’t make executives available for interviews for this article.

Hollywood is central to Apple’s strategy. As growth slows in the number of iPhones sold, Apple is trying to accelerate its services business, which includes the App Store, mobile payments and entertainment, including its music-subscription offering. It wants shows to support a video service on its TV app that could be bundled with subscriptions such as iCloud storage, said the people familiar with Apple’s entertainment plans.

Apple’s arrival coincides with upheaval in Hollywood. Declining pay-TV subscriptions and the rise of Netflix have set off an entertainment land grab. Tech giants such as Amazon andFacebook Inc. are offering video services to deepen ties with existing customers. Traditional media and telecom companies are trying to fend them off with mergers, such asWalt Disney Co.’s deal for 21st Century Fox Inc. assets and AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner Inc.

The tumult has fueled an explosion in the number of scripted shows, to 487 last year, up more than two-thirds in five years. There is a rush to sign up top show creators, as in Warner Bros.’s $300 million long-term deal to keep prolific producer Greg Berlanti.

Apple has bought more than a dozen shows, favoring broadly appealing, family-friendly fare. They include a series about poet Emily Dickinson and a “Friday Night Lights”-style drama about basketball star Kevin Durant. Apple signed partnerships with Oprah Winfrey, perhaps entertainment’s most wholesome star, and Sesame Workshop, the producers of “Sesame Street.”

Of roughly two-dozen shows Apple has in development or production, only a few could veer into “TV-MA” territory, television’s equivalent of R-rated films.

Apple’s sensitivity affects how its top Hollywood executives, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, approach their jobs. The duo, who previously shepherded “Breaking Bad” at SonyPictures, devote considerable time to winning a nod for shows from Mr. Cook and Eddy Cue, a senior vice president who oversees services, said someone well-versed in company dynamics.

Messrs. Van Amburg and Erlicht have successfully pushed some edgier shows. Apple signed a deal for a series made by M. Night Shyamalan about a couple who lose a young child.

Before saying yes to that psychological thriller, Apple executives had a request: Please eliminate the crucifixes in the couple’s house, said people working on the project. They said executives made clear they didn’t want shows that venture into religious subjects or politics. Mr. Shyamalan wasn’t available for comment.

Not every moviemaker has found Apple imposing boundaries. Early work on a comedy called “Little America” with Kumail Nanjiani “feels like a typical development process,” said co-producer Lee Eisenberg.

And graphic content certainly isn’t the only path to success in TV and streaming. There’s little or none in some of Netflix’s hits, such as “Stranger Things,” and in some popular broadcast-TV shows such as “The Big Bang Theory.”

Still, there’s no shying away from nudity, politics and raw language at cable networks such as FX, TNT, HBO and Showtime or at Netflix and Amazon Prime. Even Disney, which built its business on animated films for children, is bringing R-rated content like the raunchy “Deadpool” superhero films into its fold with its pending 21st Century Fox acquisition.

Where Apple draws the line isn’t clear, say producers, agents and writers.

“I’m not sure myself what they’re after,” said producer Shawn Ryan, whose credits include the FX hit ”The Shield.”

“I do adore Zack and Jamie and trust in their taste. I think we’re all curious to see what it’s going to be."

Apple is making big commitments to win projects. It outbid Netflix and CBS Corp.’sShowtime to land a drama about a morning news show starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, ordering two seasons and skipping the usual requirement of a pilot episode. The show’s price could top $12 million an episode, according to people familiar with it.

Apple’s venture entails behind-the-scenes drama unusual for the tech company’s typically regimented operations. Apple replaced the person in charge of the Aniston-Witherspoon show, known as the showrunner, before filming. The executive producer’s inexperience was an issue, but Apple also wanted a more upbeat show and took exception to some of the humor proposed, according to people working on the project. The show now is delayed and is having scheduling issues with Ms. Witherspoon, who has other commitments, they said.

Apple also replaced showrunners for a reboot of Steven Spielberg’s anthology "Amazing Stories,” finding the original team’s vision a little dark, said people familiar with that project. Apple’s handful of TV-MA projects include “Shantaram,” about a former heroin addict who smuggles guns to Afghanistan, and a potential show about the late pop star George Michael.

Mr. Cook, better known for memorizing spreadsheets and detailing supply costs, makes an unlikely Hollywood kingpin. His favorite TV shows are relatively tame fare such as “Friday Night Lights” and “Madame Secretary,” say people he has spoken with about it.

Mr. Cue acts as Hollywood translator. He made his mark leading Apple’s iTunes business with a tough negotiating style that cemented the 99-cent price for songs. Mr. Cue has said shows he enjoys include HBO’s violent and sex-filled “Game of Thrones” and the sci-fi “Westworld.”

The two men started exploring a video-programming strategy almost three years ago. With investors calling for Apple to buy Netflix, and Apple’s effort to launch a bundle of cable channels foundering, the executives invited in Hollywood executives such as Creative Artists Agency people and award-winning producer Brian Grazer, said people involved in the discussions. Apple wanted to know about how the business works, who was doing well and why.

Apple discussed with CAA afterward a confidential initiative to procure and develop programming for its app store, according to these people. They said the talent agency secured funding for the effort and scooped up several projects, including a Keanu Reeves show about a hit man and a risqué Michael Fassbender show about a rally-car driver.

Apple Music pursued projects of its own. The division, built partly through the $3 billion 2014 acquisition of Beats Electronics LLC, was led by Mr. Iovine, who figured video would differentiate Apple’s streaming-music service. In addition to the ill-fated “Vital Signs” project with Beats co-founder and Apple executive Dr. Dre, Mr. Iovine worked on a show called “Planet of the Apps” and partnered with CBS on “Carpool Karaoke.”

Some content on both shows, which now are available on Apple Music, originally troubled Apple brass. The company edited out “Planet of the Apps” segments with swearing, frustrating stars of the show, said a person familiar with the editing.

In “Carpool Karaoke,” which won an Emmy this week, Apple sanitized comedian James Corden’s faux outrage in the first episode so the audience hears “What the [bleep]?”

As Apple Music’s video efforts struggled, Mr. Cue charted a new course, hiring Messrs. Van Amburg and Erlicht from Sony, where they had built a reputation for creative chops and business savvy. The mandate was to build a slate of original shows.

The duo visited talent agencies last fall encouraging agents to bring them quality ideas. One agent described the message as: “Don’t edit yourselves. We’re Apple, and we’re going to take big swings.” Agents soon began to question that, as Apple started signing up series with the broad appeal of network shows and ended discussions over the grittier projects starring Mr. Fassbender and Mr. Reeves, according to people familiar with those projects.

Messrs. Van Amburg and Erlicht amended their message, saying Apple was open to anything and everything so long as there was no gratuitous violence or nudity, according to talent-agency people. One agent said some members of Apple’s team in Los Angeles began calling themselves “expensive NBC.”

Recently, Apple initially expressed interest when it was pitched a politically charged show about a college ombudsman in the era of #MeToo, featuring comedian Whitney Cummings and the producer behind the Fox hit “Empire,” Lee Daniels. Apple subsequently sent word there was concern about the sensitive topics, and the sides had differing opinions on the show’s direction.

The show is now in talks to end up at Amazon.

Deeble and Stone immersed themselves with the elephants during the course of four years, living up close and personal with Athena and her herd for over four years, highlighting the striking similarities between elephants and people. The film is narrated by Oscar-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave, Doctor Strange, the upcoming Lion King), and screened today at the Toronto International Film Festival. Stone and Deeble are Emmy and Peabody Award-winning wildlife documentarians, their News & Doc Emmy award-winning title being Haunt of the Hippo for National Geographic which won in the category of music and sound.

Apple’s worldwide video division led by Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht acquired The Elephant Queen. Endeavor Content and Mister Smith Entertainment made the deal.

In addition, before TIFF, Apple snapped up the rights to two-time Oscar-nominee Tomm Moore’s animated film Wolfwalkers, from Cartoon Saloon and Melusine Productions. The film, which Moore co-directs with Ross Stewart (Song of the Sea), is written by Will Collins (Song of the Sea) and produced by Nora Twomey, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants.

In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, Mebh, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.

Apple leaders won’t be the only deep-pocketed digital executives in Toronto. Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, who joined the company earlier this year, will make her first trip to the festival as a potential buyer. Salke is expected to arrive in Toronto today.

Amazon has in recent years been a presence at festivals. Under previous entertainment head Roy Price, the company was an aggressive buyer at Sundance and SXSW last year. But with Amazon Studios in transition earlier this year following Price’s ouster in the wake of sexual-harassment allegations and amid a lengthy search for a replacement, the company was not active at either festival this year. Salke, a television veteran who previously served as NBC entertainment president, is a new presence on the film side, where she is a looking for a new top deputy to replace departed Amazon film chief Jason Ropell. ““I think you’ll be seeing expansion over there,” Salke told Variety in June of her film plans. “I think we might not necessarily be making a ton more movies, but I think the way we make movies might evolve a little bit.”

Apple, however, is a wholly new potential player, with Van Amburg or Erlicht entering the fray in Toronto on behalf of the company for the first time. They joined Apple last year, ending long tenures as presidents of Sony Pictures Television. Apple has since aggressively pursued high-profile series projects, such as a comedic drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and a revival of Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories.” The company has, however, been less aggressive on the film front thus far, and has yet to reveal plants for the platform on which it will mount all the content it is developing.

Netflix has long been a player at festivals such as TIFF, establishing the precedent of direct-to-consumer services shaking up the traditional festival marketplace. Hulu as well is a regular presence at TIFF, where this year it will be represented by two film-acquisition execs and documentaries head Belisa Balaban.

This comes shortly after Google broke ties with Amazon’s Fire TV, showing the fight between internet giants to dominate in both content and hardware. Amazon Prime Video will be available on the current generation of Apple TVs, which support 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR), as well as previous generations in over 100 countries.

“There is nothing that excites us more than delighting our customers, and we are thrilled for them to stream Prime Video on Apple TV,” said Mark Eamer, Vice President of Prime Video. “The app arrives just in time for the highly anticipated new season of The Grand Tour, which launches on December 8th.”

The Prime Video subscription includes Amazon Original Movies, Prime Originals, over 140 TV channel subscriptions in the U.S. and 95 in the UK, Germany, and Austria, Thursday Night Football, and the aforementioned HDR content. Amazon is pushing Top Gear successor The Grand Tour in marketing, while original show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has also received a positive critical reception.

Lionsgate is said to be interested, while financial disagreements are keeping Paramount Pictures on the sidelines, according to the report. No word about Sony Pictures.

Disney Movies Anywhere, launched in 2014, enables consumers to peruse branded digital movies online and purchased them from authenticated platforms iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft and Fios by Verizon.

UltraViolet, with more than 20 million registered accounts, includes Fandango Now, Vudu, Kaleidescape, Fios, Sony Pictures, and Paramount.

It remains to be seen what role, if any, Warner CEO Kevin Tsujihara played in the transfer. Two years ago, Tsujihara said Disney’s separation from the rest of the industry was problematic to consumers and the growth of electronic sellthrough.

“It would be my goal to bridge [UltraViolet] with what Disney is doing, so the consumer doesn’t have to guess is that a Disney movie, or is that a Fox, Sony, Paramount, Universal or Warner Bros. movie?” Tsujihara told an investor group in San Francisco.

The executive said Disney and other studios could maintain separate sellthrough platforms while combining cloud-based functionality on the backend. He said combining user data between UltraViolet and Disney would help the industry grow digital content sales.

“To be more profitable, we don’t need consumer spending [on discs] to grow,” Tsujihara said at the time.

**Reports emerged earlier this year** that Apple and Amazon were closing in on a deal that would bring Amazon Prime Video to the Apple TV without using a kluge AirPlay setup, and complement support for Amazon Prime Video’s app on Apple iPhones and iPads.

A sticking point has been the fact that Apple TV competes with Amazon’s Fire TV boxes and Fire TV streaming sticks. That competitive angst was clear in the fall of 2015, when Amazon stopped selling the Apple TV and Google Chromecast adapter to instead focus on platforms that “interact well” with Amazon’s own streaming service.

Cook also announced that the TV App for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad, which serves as a unified hub for separate apps that offer an array of movies and TV shows for streaming, now has 50 content partners integrated. Amazon will also be supported by the Apple TV App, Cook said, noting that Amazon Prime Video “provides a wealth of great content.”

Cook also hinted that Apple will announce “a lot more about tvOS later this year.”

Apple, which used WWDC to introduce macOS High Sierra, also announced it is building software encoding and hardware acceleration for HEVC/H.265 in its newest Macs.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of software engineering, noted that support for the bandwidth-saving codec is coming as the streaming video world continues to move from HD to 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR).