Many iTunes Movie Changes

There's been a lot of movement on the movie purchase and rental front at iTunes and on the AppleTV this week. All signs point to progress on that front, a front that's been lagging behind iTunes' music offerings for a while. Hopefully this will begin to help movies catch on a little more strongly at iTunes. Here's the news:

• New-release movies will be available for purchase at iTunes on the same day they are released on DVD. This deal changes a practice in which movies were released to iTunes on a delay because studios didn't want to hurt DVD sales. Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, and others are participating in this plan.
• Speaking of Warner Bros., the studio also announced this week that its movies will be available for rental through iTunes the same day the DVDs come out.
• AppleTV Take 2 users can now buy movies directly from the AppleTV. Previously they'd only been able to rent movies.