Will Australia get Apple’s video streaming service by April?

Australia could get Apple’s video streaming service by April, or early May at the latest.

This is according to US reports based on sources familiar with discussions.

The launch is most likely via Apple’s App Store, which is available in more than 100 countries including Australia.

It will apparently be similar to Amazon Prime’s Video Channels.

The service will include its own original content, for which it has invested US$2 billion in, and apparently content from Lions Gate’s Starz, CBS (which owns Showtime), Viacom and possible Netflix and Hulu who are also considering.

HBO is in talks but finalising these is being delayed over terms, most likely over revenue split.

Apple wants a 30% cut of every subscription to a video streaming service through its platform.

The speculation circulating around the new service is that it could be a bundle subscription with Apple Music, or offered free to Apple device owners.

Apple declined to comment on the latest reports.

Last month in a post-financials conference call CEO Tim Cook declined to give too much away on whether video streaming is being given greater priority after the tech giant’s holiday quarter results showed iPhone sales declining for the first time.

All he would say at the time was, “We will participate in the original content world.

“We’ve signed a multi-year partnership with Oprah. Today I’m not really ready to extend that conversation beyond that point.

“We’ve hired some people we have a super amount of confidence in. They’re working on that really hard.

“We’ll have more to say on that later.”