Hoping its success in the music business translates to television, Apple on Wednesday announced plans to make episodes of five different TV shows available through a new version of iTunes.

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs announced that his company has cut a deal with the ABC television network to make five popular ABC shows available for download on iTunes the day after they are broadcast.

Ad-free downloads of "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "Nightstalker," "That's So Raven" and "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" will be available on iTunes for $1.99 each. "That's So Raven" and "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" also appear on the Disney Channel.

"I think this is the start of something big. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one to take," Jobs said.

The shows can be watched on a PC or Mac or on a new video player iPod. The new iPod comes in 30G-byte or 60G-byte versions with a 2.5-inch TFT (thin film transistor) display for watching TV shows, music videos or short films.

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. and new Disney CEO Robert Iger joined Jobs on stage to announce the partnership. Jobs believes the deal is the first that would allow downloads of new TV programs to PCs or video players.

"This is an incredibly exciting venture for us," Iger said. Disney has had a content-production relationship with Pixar Animation Studios, run by Jobs. Iger has officially been the CEO of Disney for two weeks, but was appointed to replace former CEO Michael Eisner in March. Eisner and Jobs had a famously rocky relationship fueled by a dispute over the terms of a new content agreement between Disney and Pixar.

Broadband Internet connections are a necessity for the new services, Jobs said. It will take about 15 to 20 minutes to download an episode of "Desperate Housewives," which is usually one hour long with commercials, over a broadband connection, he said.

Over 2,000 music videos will also be available for download on the new iTunes along with six short films produced by Pixar. The video content is only available in the U.S. at present.

The 30G-byte version of the new iPod will cost $299, while the 60G-byte version will cost $399 when they become available next week. The cheaper iPod is 30% thinner than the 20G-byte model it is replacing, but comes with more storage and the 2.5-inch screen.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.