• Portfolio, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:15 AM

HBO is putting the finishing touches on a deal to sell its programs on Apple's iTunes with flexible pricing. HBO insiders say the new service will be launched and formally announced in a week or two. The agreement is a strategic coup for both companies: Apple is trying to increase sales and awareness of its Apple TV device, and HBO wants to profit from its archive of old episodes.

In the past, HBO has been notoriously slow to offer content through new media, and the arrangement with Apple is due to pressure from HBO's parent Time Warner and its CEO Jeff Bewkes, say HBO employees. The deal is also the first time Apple has agreed to a separate price structure for a content provider and could open the door for variable pricing for other content, a change it has so far resisted.

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