Apple is making some big changes already since Steve Jobs has left and here is evidence of that with the decisions made with Apple TV.
The option to rent episodes of TV shows is no longer available on either the Apple TV, or when browsing content via Apple’s iTunes application. Previously, participating networks offered users the ability to rent a TV episode for 99 cents, with 30 days to begin watching and 48 hours to complete it.
As further evidence that the ability to rent TV shows has been removed completely, an Apple support document entitled “iTunes Store: How to rent TV shows,” has been removed from the Web. A Google cache of the page is still available.
In addition, Apple’s official page promoting the Apple TV no longer makes any mention of 99-cent TV show rentals. Users are told that they can rent movies, while the page offers users the ability to “buy your favorites, instantly” for TV episodes.
Apple paved the way for the change earlier this month, when the company added the ability to buy and stream iTunes TV shows on the Apple TV. Previously, the set-top box was limited only to streaming rental options, or content that had already been purchased on a Mac or PC and was saved locally on that system.