iTunes TV show rentals for 99 cents may be on the way

Here's another rumor about the new Apple TV (or "iTV" as some are calling it), which may be in the cards for the upcoming Apple event in two weeks.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is in advanced talks with several media outlets to offer TV show rentals through iTunes for 99 cents an episode. Each episode would be made available within 24 hours of the episode's airing on television, allowing one to essentially rent the episode for 48 hours, commercial-free.

This isn't such a huge surprise, really, though it does strongly support the idea of a new Apple TV device and cloud-based streaming services to handle these rentals.

It'll be interesting to see if one would be able to get a discount on a season pass of streaming episodes. If you watch two shows every weeknight, that's about $40 a month. Depending on how many networks get on board, even at three shows a night at $60/month seems like a bargain against what some cable and satellite companies charge. Even a better deal, when they are commercial free and viewable on many devices.