SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 23 ― Apple could start churning out podcasts to accompany its slate of Apple TV+ shows.

With Netflix supporting its exclusives with official companion podcasts for The Crown, The Irishman, Stranger Things, and now The Witcher, Apple could soon follow suit, per reporting carried by tech blog Engadget.

Having consulted with a number of its shows' producers, Apple would be able to use its original podcasts to further boost engagement in and appreciation of its subscription TV service.

Apple is no stranger to podcasting, of course, thanks to the ubiquity of iTunes and now Apple Podcasts as distribution networks, though hasn't yet directly involved itself with podcast production.

Netflix, meanwhile, has a dozen shows under its belt, taking listeners further into the development, filming, and themes present in a variety of its orginal content offerings.

A "Behind the Scenes” show started out with a three-part look at Stranger Things Season 3 in 2019 and then returned for an examination of The Witcher at the start of 2020.

Other ventures include Behind The Irishman, Wormwood: The Companion Podcast, Making a Murderer, Tales of The City and an official accompaniment for The Crown.

If that wasn't enough, variety shows I Hate Talking About Myself, Present Company, I'm Obsessed With This and You Can't Make This Up rotate guests from week to week, while The Human Algorithm and We Are Netflix offer a peek at corporate life within the streaming giant.

Were Apple to follow a similar path, then, it could mean insights from the likes of Star Trek and Outlander producer Ronald D. Moore (Apple TV+'s For All Mankind), Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell (The Morning Show), Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) and Steven Spielberg (Amazing Stories).

Apple TV+ is set at US$4.99 (RM20.30) per month for up to six accounts linked through a family sharing group; it's free for a year with new iOS devices or Mac computers. ― AFP-Relaxnews