Apple wants cheap iTunes TV for iPad's sake

Apple could surprise iPad buyers by halving the price of TV shows on iTunes by the time the tablet is in stores, a leak hinted Wednesday night. A number of unnamed studios have supposedly agreed to repeated calls from Apple to cut the price per episode to $1 in a "test" that would gauge interest in lower-priced standard definition shows. The drop would hopefully result in disproportionately higher sales by attracting those otherwise scared off by the normal $2 price tag.

When speaking with anonymous media executives, the Financial Times said that not every studio had been approached with the same deal, hinting that it may be chiefly to spur sales of certain shows. These would most likely be the content already popular enough to reap the benefits of the slashed prices. It's not believed that Apple would cut the $3 price for 720p versions of shows.

Apple is still thought to be pursuing a $30 TV subscription but may be using the price-dropped single episodes as a way of mitigating resistance to the idea on the part of studios. While they themselves are often eager to get content to as many destinations as possible, they have often faced pressure from cable and satellite TV networks that could threaten to drop channels if too strong an incentive exists to drop conventional TV in favor of Internet viewing.

By Electronista Staff