Apple Ends Its TV Episode Rental Service

Nearly a year after Apple persuaded the television networks to try out a television episode rental service through its iTunes store, it has quietly taken the service down. Customers, it seems, did not want to rent TV episodes through an online store. “iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows,” an Apple spokesman said Friday, confirming the take-down. The slight retreat by Apple comes two days after Tim Cook was named the chief executive of wholesale marlboro lights cigarettes online Apple, replacing Steve Jobs, who was named chairman. And it comes at a time when the company is widely believed to have its industry-disrupting sights set on the television industry. The company has sold episodes of TV shows through iTunes for years for 1.99 to 2.99. The sales have been beneficial for Apple and for television networks, but have not had major effects on consumer behavior. The rental service, announced last fall, was an experiment of sorts to see if a lower price point and a short viewing wholesale Cheap Replica Handbags from china window would entice consumers and encourage sales of the Apple TV product. But as Apple’s statement indicated, rentals did not take off. The News Corporation, which owns the Fox network, said in a statement that after studying the results of the experiment, “it became clear that content ownership is a more attractive long-term value proposition both for iTunes customers and for our business.” News Corp. said it was working with Apple to make TV shows available within iTunes in the Cloud, a new online service that makes content more cheap marlboro red cigarettes online portable by securely storing it online. In its statement Friday, Apple promoted the new service, saying that it lets users “enjoy their programming whenever and however they choose.” The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, also offered some shows for rent; the company did not respond to a request for comment Friday evening.