APPLE'S RECENT AGRESSIVE COURTING of broadcast and cable networks, and revamping iTunes for its new television venture is leading to rumors about the next iteration of their Apple TV product.

Instead of having a cable subscription with 300 channels, consumers could potentially have a less costly iTunes subscription with only half a dozen channels.  Early versions of the proposal involved Apple paying a wholesale price to the networks per subscriber, per month, very similar to the way cable and satellite operators do.  The cost to end users would be $1 to $2 dollars a month for a basic cable network; and between $2 and $3 or maybe even $4 dollars for a broadcast network.

Consumers could expect to pay for $30 dollar a month, and could get 15 - 30 networks.