Apple denies it caved in to NBCU's requests on iTunes pricing

It didn't even take 24 hours for Apple and NBC to begin arguing again. The latest dust-up? NBCU's claims that it only came back to iTunes after the Cupertino company agreed to variable pricing.

Many news outlets -- including BetaNews -- took Tuesday's announcement as an indication that Apple had agreed to allow NBC Universal to use a variable pricing structure like it had been demanding.

While typical TV shows still cost $1.99 per episode, Apple also instituted a $2.99 option for HD programming, and 99 cents for catalog episodes. In an interview with the Washington Post, NBCU digital distribution chief JB Perrette seemed to indicate Apple's apparent new strategy brought the network back.

Perrette said that three events led to the content provider's return. The first was its agreement with studios over movie rentals, which addressed many of the studios' concerns over pricing. Next was Apple's consent to allow for premium pricing, which is already used with HBO shows. Episodes of that network's programs are available for $2.99.

Finally, there was Apple's apparent concession to allow for variable pricing of compilations and deep discounts on so-called season passes.

Apple is apparently not happy with NBCU's suggestion that it somehow changed the way it does business. Apple's iTunes chief Eddy Cue told CNET in an interview that any pricing plan NBC said that it won in negotiations with Apple, was actually already in place as iTunes policy prior to NBC's new deal.

For example, the 99 cent pricing for videos has been an option for some time -- it's more commonly used by the record labels in music videos, however -- and the HD price is no different from what other networks are charging for their HD content.

Special packaging of content is not anything new, either. Apple says it has offered special pricing on programming packs based around a particular theme or common actor, for example.

Whether this is just a minor disagreement or evidence of a more strained relationship that persists between the two companies, remains to be seen. However, both sides seem to be eager to put their respective spins on the events of this week.

Either way, keeping NBCU happy may be in Apple's best interests for iTunes. Prior to having pulled its content from the store last year, NBCU-produced content comprised as much as 40% of the store's sales.