Report: Apple in Rental Talks With Media Companies

25 Aug, 2010 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Looking to take a page from the kiosk playbook, Apple Inc. reportedly is in discussions with News Corp., The Walt Disney Co. and CBS, among others, to offer 99-cent rental streams of popular television shows through iTunes.

The popular iTunes Music Store is already one of the largest aggregators of electronic movie and TV program sellthough, with content downloads available from $1.99.

The new deals would involve primarily TV content that could be streamed over a 48-hour period after purchase to an iPhone and iPad, among other devices, according to a Reuters report.

News Corp., which owns 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, has been aggressively seeking to commoditize digital content across its numerous properties, including plans to bow a standalone electronic newspaper.

Separately, a non-scientific poll on CNN.com found that 84% of more than 59,000 respondents said they would not pay 99 cents to watch a repurposed TV program online or via portable media device.

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