Variety may have uncovered the real reason NBC decided to abandon the iTunes ship for Amazon's Unbox service," a new PC Magazine article reports. "According to three people familiar with the proposal, Apple wants to cut the price of most TV shows sold via iTunes from the current price of $1.99 down to just 99 cents, the same price it charges for a song."

The PC Magazine article goes on to say that Apple feels the lower price would inject new life into TV show sales and bring the studios more revenue in the long run. But Hollywood is against the lower pricing: "Television studios are also concerned that 99-cent TV downloads would cut into the sales of DVD box sets, which have in recent years become a large part of studio revenue," the report said.

Since both sides are in an all-out-PR war, with one Apple spokesperson saying in an Associated Press report that the Hollywood studios wanted as much as $4.99 per episode, we may never know the full story.

Hollywood Not Happy With Apple Pricing Plan [PC Magazine]