Without either warning nor explanation, it appears as though Apple has just eliminated all $0.99 TV show rentals from iTunes, taking away a factor that was a major selling point for the Apple TV 2 just one year ago.
Additionally, Apple TV users no longer have the option to rent TV shows at all. It’s a bit strange to be removing features from the Apple TV considering how few things the Apple TV 2 can really do.
The elimination of TV show rentals is further evidenced by the removal of the Apple support document that used to explain the process, called “iTunes Store: How to rent TV shows.” The page can still be viewed using Google’s web cache, as proof that it once existed.
Any mention of TV show rentals has also disappeared from Apple’s official promotion page for the Apple TV, where it used to be featured quite prominently as one of the Apple TV’s big selling points.
In pondering these changes, you’re probably asking yourself: Why? The answer seems fairly simple: Since Apple has now added the ability to buy and stream TV shows through the Apple TV, the idea of renting a TV episode no longer seems necessary, as simply purchasing the episode for $2.99/$3.99 gets you permanent access. The Apple TV could not do this before, so renting was the only way for it to access TV shows short of accessing your iTunes library.
It’s also likely that the idea of a $0.99 TV rental likely just didn’t pay off financially, with only Fox and ABC ever buying into the plan. I know that I haven’t ever exercised the ability to rent a TV show for $0.99, and I know that many of my friends have also never used this ability, instead referring to internet services like Hulu, Netflix, or even illegal file sharing to catch up on an episode they missed.
