Apple drops TV rentals from iTunes

Apple quietly removed the rental option on TV episodes from iTunes on Friday. Series will now only be available to purchase, a decision that may no doubt please the studios given the higher profit margins that come with that kind of transaction. In October 2010, Apple instituted 99-cent rentals on shows from Fox and ABC including "24" and "Desperate Housewives" in tandem with the deployment of Apple TV. "iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows," said an Apple spokesman. A Fox spokesman released the following statement: "After carefully considering the results of the rental trial, it became clear that content ownership is a more attractive long-term value proposition both for iTunes customers and for our business. To further enhance the value of ownership, we are working with Apple to make content available within their new cloud-based service." The iTunes rental option is still in place on movies. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com