• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, May 13, 2008

For the first time, Apple's iTunes has forged a deal to sell TV episodes of many HBO shows including "Deadwood," "The Sopranos," and "Sex and the City."

The hour-long episodes will go for $2.99 each, while the 30-minute "Sex" episodes cost $1.99 each. That's more than Apple normally charges, but other shows on iTunes were previously available on television for free. HBO has recently made edited versions of some programs available in syndication, but people who wanted the uncut shows had to either subscribe to HBO or shell out for an entire season on DVD.

Not all shows will be available. Current hits including "Entourage" and "John Adams," for instance, won't be sold.

For Apple, the move marks a retreat from its previous stance that pricing be uniform. The company's inflexibility on the subject was one of the reasons why NBC stopped selling TV shows on iTunes. But, while Apple likes being able to tout the simplicity of uniform pricing, it's not clear that consumers view such a pricing structure as a big benefit.

HBO is perhaps taking a chance that people will stop subscribing to the channel if they know they can purchase episodes in the future. But that seems like a minimal risk -- especially given the fact that HBO already sells popular shows on DVD. Still, the company appears concerned that selling shows on iTunes will lessen demand for the paid service. Why else would it exclude some of its most buzz-worthy offerings?

In fact, however, placing shows on iTunes -- where people only need to invest $3 to determine if they like them -- seems far more likely to yield new viewers than to spur people to cancel their cable plans.