… by allowing HBO to charge $2.99 an episode for those of its shows that just joined the iTunes Store lineup, the Hollywood Reporter says:

NBC took The Office, Heroes and all the rest of its shows out of the iTunes Store last year, mostly because Steve Jobs wouldn’t let the company charge more than $1.99 for an episode. Or so it seemed at the time. The HR story has a lot of new information on the dispute:

[…S]ources also suggest that it wasn’t Apple but NBC Uni that was being stubborn in their previous negotiation stalemate. Not only was NBC Uni pushing to test a $4.99 price point—suddenly, “Sopranos” doesn’t seem that expensive—but it also wanted to institute dynamic pricing, an experimental new technology that recalibrates price based on consumer demand. NBC Uni declined comment on dynamic pricing, which is being tested by Warner Music Group.

The story also details more of the complex dynamics behind the scenes as companies try to balance competing revenue streams—and the implacable Jobs:

Even if a program’s popularity was key to setting its price, “Sopranos” hasn’t proved particularly popular in its first few weeks on iTunes — perhaps because of the elevated price point. It is ranked 24th among season packages on iTunes; among individual episodes, “Sopranos” didn’t even crack the top 100.

No doubt Showtime might want to test the $2.99 waters not only because it shares HBO’s premium status but also because its series “Dexter” is currently the most popular full-season order on iTunes.

If sales ends up driving pricing, shows that aren’t necessarily big on-air hits but are iTunes darlings could command higher prices, including the CW’s “Gossip Girl.”

However, one conglomerate exec believes that Apple might have its own opinions on programming value. “When you get into that conversation, it’s a slippery slope,” the exec says. “Because we’ll differ with them on what content is worth what.”

If anything is indicative of a show’s iTunes price, look at the digits appearing on its DVD price tag. HBO in particular has a massive DVD business, and with that comes the need to maintain a higher price in order to afford some protection from cannibalizing DVD sales.

But variable pricing is only part of what content companies want from iTunes. What one might call variable packaging is high on the wish list as well, which means the ability to bundle multiple titles in creative ways—for instance, selling a film and its soundtrack together for one discounted price.

Another question altogether is whether Apple also will adjust revenue splits—known to be in the neighborhood of 70-30 with the content companies—once pricing changes. Not likely, most say, and beside the point for Apple. Content isn’t seen as much as a revenue driver in and of itself as it a catalyst for more significant dollars that come from sales of iPods and AppleTV devices.