YouTube in Talks to Stream Rental Movies

September 2, 2009 at 2:01 pm PT

Google Inc.’s (GOOG) YouTube is in discussions with major movie studios about allowing users to stream movies on a rental basis, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, marking one of the video giant’s first moves towards charging for content instead of making it available for free with advertising.

While some studios already make full-length movies available on YouTube, they tend to be older, lesser-known titles. Now YouTube is talking to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp. (SNE) and Warner Bros. about integrating newer titles into the existing YouTube site, most of which it would carry a rental charge. In some cases, these titles might be available on the site on the same day that they come out on DVD. It is unclear to what extent older movies or television shows will be part of the new agreements.

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Tagged with: advertising, digital, DVD, entertainment, frontpage, Google, Internet, Jessica E. Vascellaro, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., rental, Sam Schechner, Sarah McBride, Sony Corp., streaming movies, telecom, television, The Wall Street Journal, video, Warner Bros., YouTube

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