Apple just announced that they will not deliver any of the new seasons content. From a Apple press release it is very apparent why the negotiations failed. It seems NBC applied some unreasonable pricing increases on Apple.
“Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.”
The price would have been ridiculously high, $4.99 for something you can get on TV and record with your DVR for free give me a break! Apple