It seems that Apple's plans to use iTunes for 99c-per-rental TV shows are hanging in the balance, with Steve Jobs wanting to announce the move tomorrow.The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the future of the plans now rests with Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp, which owns Fox TV.
It says that after weeks of negotiations, CBS, NBC and Time Warner have decided against the deal, with Disney decising to go ahead. News Corp has still to make a decision. If it goes along with the plan, it could sway Apple into launching it without the other major players. The LA Times says:
News Corp. executives are divided over selling TV shows at such a discount, according to people close to the conversations who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal company matters.
Single episodes of such popular shows as "Glee" or "Lie to Me" are available to purchase for as much as $3.99 at Apple's iTunes store. Some executives of News Corp., which owns the Fox network, worry that offering 99-cent episode rentals will cut into lucrative DVD sales and pull viewers away from watching network TV, thereby eroding a $20-billion advertising market, these people said.
But other top officials at News Corp. - especially Murdoch - are prepared to join Apple's six-month pricing trial because it could cement a relationship with Apple's powerful chief executive, Steve Jobs, and reap benefits for other divisions within the company, namely newspapers.
Apple is holding a Special Media Event tomorrow where it's expected to announce a new range of iPods as well as possible plans for iTunes music storage in the cloud.
It's known it also wants to get TV show rentals off the ground in preparation for a new Apple TV (iTV) set-top box.
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