Apple's upcoming drama The Morning Show will reportedly cost more per episode than Game of Thrones.
The drama seems to have shades of Death to Smoochy and Network, set against the backdrop of a light-hearted morning news program, so it's unlikely that dragons and direwolves are leading a charge up the balance sheet as part of a ballooning special effects budget. The new streaming service's first big swing racks up most of its production cost in its cast. The show features three A-list leads in Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. The Hollywood Reporter has it that both Aniston and Witherspoon are making more that $1.2 million per episode. That could explain The Financial Times' report that each episode of newsroom intrigue costs more to make than the staggering battles of Westeros.
Overall, Apple is being very financially generous on content in the hopes it will convince people to sign on to yet another streaming service. The Financial Times puts the company's entire original content budget at $6 billion.
Apple's streaming service is expected to launch in November at a cost of $9.99 per month. Like most streaming services, it's expected to use a free trial offer in an attempt to lure viewers away from established names like Netflix and Hulu.
