Apple is reportedly in talks with News Corp’s Fox, CBS, NBC Universal and Walt Disney to allow iTunes users to rent TV shows for 99 cents.

Under the deal, according to Bloomberg, episodes would be available to rent 24 hours after they air, would be commercial free and available to iTunes users for 48 hours.

The content deals would strengthen Apple’s position against competitors like Netflix and Amazon.com, which offer their own online video services.

Apple plans to make an announcement at a San Francisco event September 1 to introduce the service and a new line of entertainment products.

“This is a smart move by everyone,” said David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York. “Something like this a la carte rental service is an incremental opportunity.”

“If you’re running a TV network, you don’t want to upset the existing ecosystem broadly by starting a rival subscription service with Apple,” he said. “You want to look for ways to drive incremental revenue.”
 

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