Apple (AAPL) has had a difficult time lining up TV programming, digital newspapers and other content with just weeks to go before the the iPad’s April 3 release.

The Wall Street Journal cites people familiar with the matter as saying that electronics maker is now asking that television networks agree to drop the price of their episodes to $0.99, down from $1.99 and $2.99.  Apple also hoped to work closely with newspaper, magazines and textbook publishers on new ways to digitally present print content on the iPad, but has for now put the effort on backburner, said one of the people.

People speaking anonymously to the Journal say the content providers are weary of the strategy, fearing it could ultimately hurt their business and jeopardize “the tens of billions of dollars in subscription fees they are paid by cable and satellite companies for their traditional TV networks.”
Programmers are also worried about the effect a subscription service would have on advertising revenue.

“It’s also possible TV companies could offer access to their shows on the iPad through applications that would stream the videos, rather than selling them through iTunes,” the report adds. “But streaming is often limited by a tangle of licenses between producers and TV networks.”

Apple believes it could unlock a completely new market for digital distribution and consumption that could prove just as lucrative, if not more, than their existing deals with cable operators.

Another problem is some publishers and TV executives are concerned the iPad doesn’t support Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash video technology, which many publishers use to showcase their multimedia content and is also an underlying technology of online ads.

Industry executives believe that if anyone jumps first, it will be Disney. Disney was the first player to sell its programming on iTunes, via a-la-carte downloads, also Apple CEO Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest single shareholder, a result of Disney’s 2006 acquisition of Jobs’s Pixar animation studio.

Chad Evans of MLB.com, the official website of US Major League Baseball last August announced that it was to stream full-length live games for the iPhone and iPod. Now, it is taking that to the iPad.

“We couldn’t just take our existing iPhone app and make it bigger,” Evans said proudly when presenting his iPad app. “This big display really allows us to create a much more immersive experience.”

Emerging media producer Gary Hayes says about this new the digitalisation of television: “We are finally entering an era where the second and third screen – the PC and the mobile – are truly converging.” The increasing links between social media and TV are now embodied in a single device.

If Apple is able to get networds on board then that will mean you can connect the iPad to your TV and in reality be able to ditch you box. The specs page claims “Support for 1024 x 768 with Dock Connector to VGA adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component A/V Cable, 576i and 480i with Apple Composite Cable.” So you can hook it up to your TV and get sort-of hi def output if you have a VGA input on your TV, and are otherwise limited to standard def TV output. Pretty lame, considering the device’s support for 720p video.

When the iPad was unveiled, Steve Jobs had announced that the gadget would let people play games, browse the Internet, watch video online, read newspapers, magazines and books on the super 9.7 inch color touch screen display, So for now it seems that Apple needs to put on hold the idea to offer TV subscriptions viewable on the iPad as very few media industries are interested.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter.

AAPL, Apple TV, iPad, iphone, ipod, MLB, Pixar, TV, TV Networks