Apple Buys CBS’ Series Based on ‘Carpool Karaoke’

A segment that has become a breakout hit on late-night TV was acquired by Apple, which plans to leverage the acquisition of “Carpool Karaoke” to pump up subscriptions to Apple Music.

For the initiated, the series involves Corden picking up a celebrity guest to ride along with him in a compact auto while singing their and others’ hit songs – past guests have included Adele, Justin Bieber and most recently, First Lade Michelle Obama.

Adele joined James Corden for “Carpool Karaoke” in January. “It’s a flawless fit for Apple Music – bringing subscribers exclusive access to their favorite artists and celebrities who come along for the ride”.

Corden will continue to star in the recurring segment on his show, which just received four Emmy nominations for its first season, including Outstanding Variety Talk Series. The “Late Late Show” host’s endearingly popular “Carpool Karaoke” – a mishmash of celebrity cameos, musical guest appearances, and hilarious renditions of songs by Missy Elliot, Beyonce and other artists – will soon grace Apple’s streaming platform in the form of a 16-episode series. Video of that segment has been watched more than 32 million times on YouTube since last week.

Apple is still in the nascent stages of developing original TV-style content, and given that it’s still new to the process of traditional series licensing deals sealing the deal with CBS took almost three months.

Apple SVP Eddy Cue says that like Apple Music, Carpool Karaoke is a fun and unique way to express love for music.

CBS Television and Fulwell 73 will be the guys behind the show. Carpool Karaoke has been a big hit on the Internet, with more than 830 million views on YouTube since its debut a year ago.

Apple, for the most part, has been quiet about original content efforts.

The format of the show will remain largely the same as the original late-night segments.