NBC pulling shows from Apple's (AAPL) iTunes?

Like corporate sister Universal Music before it, General Electric (NYSE: GE)'s NBC has not been able to come to terms with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to continue selling its television shows through iTunes. According to The New York Times, NBC is "the No. 1 supplier of digital video to Apple's online store, accounting for about 40 percent of downloads." Universal Music, the world's largest record company, has already said it will not renew its long-term contract with Apple.

Other large television companies, including CBS (NYSE: CBS) and News Corp (NYSE:NWS) will announce their renewal plans soon. iTunes competitors, including Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)'s own digital download businesses, are waiting to see if they can move in and, to some extent, take Apple's place.

The iTunes model has become the victim of its own success. With well over 120 million iPods sold and another 10 million being added each quarter, Apple has been able to take a hard line on the portion of revenue that it gets from its content providers. And exodus of these partners could do Apple so real harm.

Apple has been so successful at besting content companies and iPod competitors that there could be a consortium that will band against it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.