Apple Hires Amazon TV Head to Reportedly Lead Its TV Division

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Apple Hires Amazon TV Head to Reportedly Lead Its TV Division

HIGHLIGHTS
Timothy D. Twerdahl has been hired as VP of Apple TV Marketing
He was earlier with Amazon, and had also worked in Netflix
Twerdahl will replace Pete Distad
Apple, in an attempt to shift focus of its Apple TV business, has hired Timothy D. Twerdahl, who was the former head of Amazon’s Fire TV business. According to a Bloomberg report, Twerdahl will replace Pete Distad who was responsible for the Apple TV business, and will be reporting to Greg Joswiak, Vice President in charge of marketing for the iPhone.

The report citing a person familiar with the matter adds that Twerdahl will take over as the Vice President of Apple TV Marketing. It adds that the move suggests a renewed focus on the Apple TV business with an intention to provide more content for the device. Twerdahl is believed to be working on expanding video content as well as work on more devices for the living room.

An Apple spokesman confirmed to Bloomberg that Timothy D. Twerdahl joined Apple this month. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was formerly General Manager and Director of Amazon’s Fire TV Business since 2013. Notably, Twerdahl earlier worked with Netflix and prior to it, he was the Vice President of Consumer Devices at Roku, a streaming player. With Twerdahl’s hiring, Distad has been reportedly shifted to “help lead Apple’s content deal efforts” under Eddy Cue.
Last year, Apple was reported to cut the amount it charges from video streaming services in half on the App Store, a move said to be in-sync with the company’s upcoming TV app plans.

Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV came with innards similar to iPhone 6, and the device can convert any non-smart TV into a smart one. Apple has been steadily improving its tvOS, the software that powers the device.

Tags: Apple, Apple TV, Amazon

[“Source-Gadgets”]