New York - Apple (NASD: AAPL) will soon announce a new deal with Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) HBO that will bring TV episodes to its iTunes Store under a new, separate pricing structure from other partners, Portfolio.com reported, citing HBO employees involved in executing the agreement.

The deal is noteworthy both due to the fact that it is HBO's first offering of a la carte digital episodes outside of pay-TV video-on-demand, and because NBC's (NYSE: GE) shows were removed from the iTunes Store in December, because the company was unable to get Apple to agree to pricing that departed from the standard $1.99 per episode.

The report indicated that the deal will be announced the launch of HBO shows on iTunes, expected in a week or two.

Update: Apple announced the deal on Tuesday, May 13, and will initially offer episodes of "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "Deadwood," "Rome," "Flight of the Conchords" and "The Wire." In a first, episodes of "The Sopranos," "Deadwood" and "Rome" -- all hour-long programs -- will break the standard $1.99 TV pricing on iTunes and cost $2.99 each.

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http://snipurl.com/28it6 (Portfolio.com)