#YouTube goes On Demand with Hollywood blockbusters
By
Michelle Castillo
/ CBS News
Illustration by Michelle Castillo
(CBS/What's Trending) Add YouTube to the places you check to find the latest movies -- legally that is.
No longer the hub for finding shoddy versions of hit movies filmed by someone with a movie camera sitting in the theater, YouTube is continuing their anti-piracy path and looking to expand their on demand services. According to The Wrap, sources say YouTube has partnered with some major Hollywood studio, including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal, to bring blockbusters via streaming to the masses. The deal may start as soon as this week or next week, and an official announcement is near.
Apparently, YouTube already had a download service, we just never knew about it. YouTube Rentals is in Beta for U.S. users only, featuring several movies around the $2 to $3 range including "Spy School" with Rupert Grint, "Planet Terror" and "Clerks 2." "We've steadily been adding more and more titles since launching movies for rent on YouTube over a year ago, and now have thousands of titles available," a spokesperson said in a statement to the Wrap. "Outside of that, we don't comment on rumor or speculation." As of August 2010, the service had over 400 titles in their arsenal. This new development would probably add more high profile movies.
Of course, the age old rumor of YouTube partnering with Verizon as a service offered on FiOS is still floating around, but overall, I think this means good news. With Amazon and YouTube offering pay-per-download services and Hulu and Netflix steaming up the streaming market, more like-businesses can only mean that prices will be driven down -- not that spending $2 for a movie that we can watch with four friends is really burning a hole in our pockets.
