Apple Music has emerged as the winner in a bidding war over the rights to broadcast a new series based on the wildly popular Carpool Karaoke segment featured on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Although the weekly series will take its cues from the original, there's one huge element missing, as host James Corden will not appear.
In April we reported that James Corden's Carpool Karaoke segment, a regular feature on his late night talk show The Late Late Show with James Corden, had surpassed 1 billion YouTube views led by extremely popular segments featuring Adele and Justin Bieber, who has appeared three times. Corden's vehicular sing-alongs have amassed a huge following, arguably eclipsing interest in the show on which they are featured.
After the success of a special version of Carpool Karaoke that featured special guest Jennifer Lopez and aired on CBS in prime time, it was announced that a regular series was in the works, considered to be a spinoff of the original. Many observers guessed that the show would also air on CBS, home of The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Today, however, it was announced that Apple Music had emerged the victor in a bidding war over the spinoff. The competition over the rights to the show was buoyed by its viral success, which piqued the interest of various video-on-demand platforms.
"We love music, and 'Carpool Karaoke' celebrates it in a fun and unique way that is a hit with audiences of all ages. It's a perfect fit for Apple Music — bringing subscribers exclusive access to their favorite artists and celebrities who come along for the ride," says Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services.
Apparently not coming along for the ride, however, is host James Corden. When the spinoff was announced as being in the works, many observers wondered how CBS would allow Corden to host a competing series that would potentially cannibalize viewers from both his late night talk show and the viral Carpool Karaoke videos. It looks like the answer is that CBS clearly won't permit that, and the host of the new series, while still not announced, will definitely not be James Corden.
Whether the new show can achieve the success of Carpool Karaoke without Corden is a huge question mark. The series will air on a weekly basis and be presented in a similar but somewhat tweaked travelogue format, with celebrities taking the host to a favorite or meaningful spot. The most appealing aspect of the segment thus far, however, has been Corden himself, whose charm, disarming personality and sincere love of music drive the appeal of Carpool Karaoke. Whether anyone else can fill his shoes in a similar format is questionable, and it will be very interesting to see whom Apple Music selects as the host of the new series.
