Disney and Apple to Offer TV Downloads for $1.99 a Show

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

I recently finished the Disney Wars book (incredible read btw) and it basically came down to this: almost every smart person and many great ideas were tossed out ay Disney, including Lloyd Braun the creator of ABC’s Lost and Desperate Housewives (now happily at Yahoo!), shows like Survivor and CSI rejected and dumped on other networks where they now thrive,and many a ruffled partner feather, including Steve Jobs wearing his Pixar hat. So, I suppose it is fitting that Jobs waited just days after Eisner’s departure to announce a new joint venture with the Mouse company, but here’s the news. I am sure Steve is loving this moment.

Opening the door to a new revenue stream for television content, the Walt Disney Co. said on Wednesday it will begin offering next-day digital downloads of its biggest ABC prime time hits for $1.99 per episode. The move, unveiled in conjunction with a new partnership between Disney and Apple Computer Inc., marks the latest bid by a major broadcast network and its parent company to shake up “old media” models and expand their avenues of distribution. “This is the first giant step in terms of making content available to more people in more places,” said Robert Iger, who took over as Disney CEO earlier this month from the company’s long-time head, Michael Eisner. Source: Reuters via Yahoo News

We Ask: what will they call it? iTV? And oh the irony to have to have this on Yahoo News when you are Lloyd Braun and the biggest offerings will be your own creations.