Shadowhunters season 4: Why Apple is such an interesting under-the-radar choice

As we’re in the midst of the #SaveShadowhunters campaign, one of the things that we like to do is think outside of the box. Obviously, there are campaigns out there to bring a Shadowhunters season 4 to streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix, and we absolutely support those! (Just take a look at our coverage of the airplane flying over Netflix Headquarters on Friday.)

Yet, we also do want to think a little bit in terms of some potential homes for the canceled Freeform series that may not be as obvious at first glance. That brings us to this article, which is geared largely around Apple. Why Apple? At first glance, it may not make that much sense given that the company is known mostly for their devices. Yet, in recent months they have made a significant move to dive into scripted programming, and in doing so started to work with a number of prominent producers including Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, and Once Upon a Time showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. They are plotting effectively their own service that has some things in common with a Netflix or a Hulu.

So why would Shadowhunters be such a perfect acquisition for them? We like to think that there are a number of different reasons for it.

First things first, you have to look at what Apple is doing with some of their programming. One of the things that was notable with their deal with Oprah was that they were effectively bringing her production studio and allowing them to keep most of the rights — it wasn’t something devised as an in-house production. If Apple is looking to acquire content from outside studios, why not look at Shadowhunters then? It’s content that they can acquire that has an established, devoted audience that will use whatever sort of service that is designed. It always has fans virtually all over the world, and when you think about Apple as a company, they certainly have the capacity to appeal to an international base. Think about the number of iPhone users out there. (We’re not saying that Shadowhunters would only be available to iPhone users; instead, we’re just stating the company’s broad presence globally.)

In this industry, there’s such a thing known as a “killer app” — something that a studio, network, or publisher has that they can absolutely bank on. For Apple in the early going, Shadowhunters could be that for them since it has an established fanbase. Back when Netflix first got into original content, they did something similar with Arrested Development. Hulu did the same with The Mindy Project. If Apple wants to do something similar, why not try Shadowhunters?

Admittedly, there are still many questions surrounding how some of Apple’s streaming content will work, including how it will deliver to consumers (such as via an app), when much will officially launch, or what the cost of a potential subscription would be. What we do know is this: They are banking big on it and Shadowhunters could be the perfect addition.

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