Apple has been trying to push major television networks over the edge into the realm of the $.99 episode. How successful have they been to date?

PBS has temporarily priced some of its shows like “Arthur,” “Martha Speaks” and “WordGirl” at $.99 while NBC has sold recaps of Olympic events at that price point, the New York Times reports. All shows mentioned are in Standard Definition (SD).

Typically, an episode on iTunes in SD costs$1.99 while HD episodes cost $2.99.

Major networks have been skeptical about the cost of individual episodes, worried that the drop from $1.99 to $.99 would hurt their relationships with affiliates and cable networks. By being “too cheap” (emphasis mine) the concern is that consumers would bypass the shows delivered by local access providers and shift to premium, on-demand video of the same network programming.