YouTube pursues streaming movie rentals, WSJ says
Another barrier to simple streaming movie rentals might be coming down soon.
Google’s YouTube is in talks with three major movie studios about bringing newer titles into the site for a charge of about $3.99, according to The Wall Street Journal. The site has full-length movies already, but they aren’t particularly well-known.
If a deal comes through with the three studios, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp. and Warner Bros., it would let YouTube join the ranks of other other companies experimenting with streaming or downloaded movie rentals like Netflix, Amazon and Apple’s iTunes.
Trying to wrest stronger advertising revenues from the site, YouTube has been working hard to attract premium content like its competitor Hulu. It signed an online distribution deal with Time Warner last month, adding to agreements with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal, MGM Studios and Walt Disney. Advertising on the site has also become more invasive, with overlays over videos and tie-ins to prompt viewers into buying songs.
Ten thousand Google employees were supposed to pilot the rental program at the end of this month, but the test was pushed back as negotiations dragged on, according to the Journal.
Next Story: EMC gobbles discovery software co. Kazeon
Previous Story: OnLive launches its much-anticipated beta test for video games on demand
About the Author, Kim-Mai Cutler
Kim-Mai was born and raised a stone's throw from Apple headquarters in Cupertino by a devout Hewlett-Packard family. After attending UC Berkeley, Kim-Mai worked for Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in New York, Los Angeles, London and Buenos Aires. Follow her on Twitter at @kimmaicutler, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
-
Avi Abelow