Monday, June 11, 2007

Apple Inc. is in talks with the Hollywood studios to make new movies available for rental for its iTunes service, according to two studio executives familiar with the matter.

The rental service is being pitched aggressively by Apple, with titles to rent for $2.99 for a set number of days before expiring, these people said. It is unclear which studios might participate, with Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures currently in favor and General Electric Co.'s Universal Studios Inc. currently opposed, for example. The service is far from a certainty with several details to iron out, said a person close to the situation.

For Apple, such a deal would represent a departure from a long-term strategy. Mr. Jobs has many times dismissed the consumer appeal of rental-like "subscription" music services, which allow users to listen to as much music as they like for a flat monthly fee, without giving them permanent ownership of the songs. He has been less vocal about the appeal of movie rentals on the Web. Unlike music, movies rented on physical media like DVDs are a well-established category

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iTunes