Apple has completely eliminated the 99-cent video rentals it put in place last year for TV show episodes. This is largely due to the overwhelming number of networks that were not willing to offer their shows for such a low price.
Fox and Disney were the only two major networks involved in the 99-cent rental program. Even with both of those networks on board, many shows were still not available at that price. Now that the rental program has been ditched, Apple TV customers only option is to buy episodes for $1.99 each.
Apple is justifying the change by stating,
"iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows," said Tom Neumayr, an Apple spokesman. "iTunes in the Cloud lets customers download and watch their past TV purchases from their iOS devices, Apple TV, Mac, or PC allowing them to enjoy their programming whenever and however they choose."
Apple's position is that by introducing their Cloud service, allowing users to stream purchases to any of their devices instead of storing locally, it justifies the elimination of the rental service altogether.
So how does this change affect the rumor that an Apple subscription service could be coming soon? It doesn't make sense for them to push their Cloud service and then immediately turn around and announce a streaming subscription service. I also don't see major networks jumping on board for that kind of service. Major networks were already hesitant to buy into the 99-cent rental model, what would entice them to sign on for an all you can stream subscription service?
Time will tell if Apple tries out the subscription model, but current business practices make it an unlikely turn of events.
