San Francisco, United States-Apple is dabbling with the idea of making online television programming in a move that would challenge established players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, according to show-business magazine Variety.

Variety cited unnamed sources as saying that the California-based company has chatted in recent weeks with Hollywood executives to assess interest in leading an effort to make original content for Apple.

Apple told AFP that it would not comment on what it referred to as "rumor and speculation."

Industry trackers have wondered what the vision is for Apple TV set-stop boxes, which the company downplayed as a "hobby" after the original version was released in 2007.

Online streaming of films and television shows has since become a mainstay of home entertainment, setting up the potential for Apple to combine iTunes digital offerings with its hardware for delivering content to the biggest screens in living rooms.

Apple TV news is expected to be part of a September 9 media event the company will host in San Francisco.

In trademark enigmatic style, the emailed invitations to the event provided little more than the time and place of the event. Beneath graphics based on the Apple logo was written "Hey Siri, give us a hint."

The timing of the Apple event did not come as a surprise since the company is known to host September events to announce iPhone updates.

Rumors about the coming event included the possibility of new iPhone models and news about Apple TV set-top boxes.