Apple eyes Will.i.am format

Will.i.am on The Voice UK

Apple is reportedly eyeing up a singing competition format featuring pop star Will.i.am and being produced by LA- and London-based Znak & Jones Productions.

Superdope will see the Black Eyed Peas star and The Voice judge host the show and act as mentor to budding musicians, with the band also making appearances.

It will be filmed in LA and is being pitched to US and UK broadcasters with Apple also showing interest, according to US trade Deadline.

Apple is already working with Will.i.am on its first show, Planet of the Apps, which the musician is set to exec produce. The series, originally in development with Simon Cowell’s Syco, is now being produced by LA prodco Propagate, which put out a casting call for for tech entrepreneurs in San Francisco, LA, Austin and New York last week.

Znak & Jones was founded in 2014 by former Zodiak USA CEO Natalka Znak and ex-Talpa Media USA boss Simon Jones.

Sky subseuqently invested in the firm as part of a distribution deal and the company has also agreed a copro deal with T Group Productions, the US company behind Storage Hunters.