TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman first reported the news Monday evening. I’ve been able to confirm much of her story from people familiar with the plans.

Waxman’s report says the revamped store at Google’s video site “may start as early as this week or next;” I’m told it could be “weeks, but not months.” Big studios including Sony, Time Warner’s Warner Bros. and Comcast’s Universal are on board. So are indies like Lionsgate.

Notable holdouts: News Corp.’s Fox (News Corp. also owns this Web site) and Paramount, whose corporate parent Viacom is still suing Google over YouTube copyright claims.

YouTube started testing movie rentals internally in 2009, and has been renting a small handful to the public since 2010. Those movies have been offered as a streaming file, instead of the downloads that Apple’s iTunes rents, and I’m told the plan is for that to continue.

The difference is that you’ve probably only heard of a handful of the movies in YouTube’s existing store (I think “Made” is really under-appreciated). Post-expansion, you’ll get the same stuff, or much of the same stuff, that you can get from Apple, Amazon, and several other Web services.

So here’s the real question: Will you, or anyone else, use it?

Waxman quotes an unnamed executive who says they are “pretty excited,” but primarily because YouTube is embracing individual rentals, instead of a Netflix-style subscription plan.

A source I talked to from a participating studio, though, is less enthused: “A small VOD [video on demand] deal? Who cares? There are 40,000 other people who are selling VOD. This is a short-term, transactional deal.”

Another source familiar with the plans cautions that the initial expansion will only be the “first inning” of a longer game. Other features that Google could add down the road would be the ability to purchase movies, and store them in a cloud-based locker service.

Google is unlikely to get that ability until it makes several moves to mollify the big studios, primarily around copyright issues: They want the search giant to make it harder to find pirated movies, and they don’t want Google placing its ads on pirate sites, etc.

Google has been making some moves along those lines, but apparently not enough of them. (The flip side of this argument: Many studios are very interested cloud-based lockers, because they think that system, which allows people who own an individual movie to watch it on different machines, will support their eroding DVD sales. That may be more wishful thinking than anything else, but that’s for a different story.)

But the problem for both Google and the studios is that so far digital consumers seem largely uninterested in renting or buying individual movies.

Given the choice, consumers have overwhelmingly gone for Netflix, which now boasts 23.6 million subscribers. Research firm NPD estimates the company has 61 percent of the digital movie market.

No, it’s not the mall. It’s Facebook.

So, could the social network also be the place you go to shop?

Christian Taylor, the CEO of Payvment, believes it is only a matter of time.

Payvment launched a Facebook Mall two weeks ago, where consumers can shop among 50,000 retailers and add items to a single shopping cart. Payvment is signing up around 300 new storefronts daily and has roughly 1.2 million items in the mall today.

Taylor doesn’t tread lightly when on the subject.

“Facebook is the perfect storm to become the largest shopping portal on the planet,” he said. “I think it’s a no-brainer that e-commerce on Facebook will be huge. Amazon is so big because of its traffic, and Facebook blows it away.”

Taylor’s interest in social shopping developed by accident.

Pre-Payvment, Taylor was the president of Xcreative Interactive, a company that was building Facebook pages for large entertainment and media brands. He said it was very successful and had huge clients such as Disney and Lionsgate.

But there was one big problem.

The pages would always garner millions of fans, “but we could never get them to buy a DVD or a movie ticket. It was very hard to convert off the network,” he said.

That’s when they saw an even bigger opportunity to build e-commerce services for small and medium sized business. The employees voted to shut down the company and move from New York to Palo Alto.

That was almost two years ago.

After the move, it developed a framework that allowed companies to build e-commerce capabilities into their Facebook pages as a separate tab.

While it attracted thousands of merchants, he said there was a problem with that, too.

“Even if you have 5,000 fans, at the end of the day, you are only selling to 5,000 fans,” he said. “It took us four months to discover that there’s something wrong here. You needed a way to be discovered.”

Enter the mall and the single check-out experience across multiple brands.

Already, the difference has been noticeable, Taylor said.

Before the mall went live on Feb. 24, about 3,000 of its 60,000 merchants were regularly selling items, or roughly five percent. “When I tell you it was night and day, I can say that [sales] quadrupled the day we flipped the switch on the mall.”

Should Amazon or other e-commerce leaders be scared of Facebook’s ability to garner a very large audience?

Taylor: “If they are not, they should be.”

“The really scary part for the old regime should be that people return to Facebook daily and spend more time on Facebook than any other Web site on the net….We are turning Facebook into the largest shopping mall on the planet.”

The threat is clearly not imminent. Today, Amazon, eBay and other retailers that have gone online, like Best Buy and Target, have large audiences themselves.

They are also experimenting with ways to make shopping more social, as we’ve reported before, but generally e-commerce has failed to become very social yet.

However, Payvment believes with the social graph acting as the center of the shopping experience, it can take it to another level. Visitors to the mall “like” individual items to surface them to the top. It’s also much easier to shop for a birthday or Christmas.

So far, Payvment’s Shopping Mall on Facebook has attracted 9,015 monthly active users and 568 “likes.” While Payvment claims to work closely with Facebook, it has no direct ties or arrangements with the social network.

The company also doesn’t make any money yet.

Its platform is entirely free, and anyone that adopts the platform right now will be grandfathered in for life. In return, they are asked to provide feedback.

To date, the company has raised $8 million in capital from Sierra Ventures and BlueRun Ventures. It has 20 employees.

So you can see why CEO Jason Kilar is trying to build up a roster of his own shows — either stuff Hulu commissions itself, or stuff other studios bring to his site before they go anywhere else on the Web.

AdWeek’s Mike Shields reports that Hulu has “been quietly building out two separate content divisions” — one for “branded entertainment” (shows built-to-order for specific marketers, who get to weave their products or branding directly into the programming) and another focused on “niche comedy and documentaries.” (Intriguingly, Shields also says Hulu is planning a “major integration with Facebook” but doesn’t offer more details).

We’ve already seen a bunch of Hulu originals, from “If I Can Dream” reality show to the “Morning After” clip show it launched earlier this year.

Last week the company started airing “Trailer Trash“, a series of 5-minute cartoons in the Beavis and Butt-head mold, produced and financed by Lionsgate and Hudson Media. Later this year we’ll see a serial thriller starring Kiefer Sutherland, and a cartoon from LeBron James. Title: “The LeBrons”.

None of this stuff is going to rival “Lost” or “The Office” or “Family Guy”. And if any of that stuff goes away, it’s going to be a big problem for Hulu. But that’s not likely to happen — I’d be very surprised if Disney’s ABC or Comcast’s NBC or News Corp.’s Fox bailed on Hulu altogether (News Corp. also owns this Web site).

More likely: Some of the stuff that runs on Hulu now takes longer to get there, or stays there for a shorter window, or becomes more expensive for Hulu to show. Or perhaps all of the above. In that case, it’d be nice for Kilar and company to have their own shows on hand to help soften the blow.

The deal is the latest in a string of pacts that are fast transforming Netflix into a true Web-based movie channel. With streaming rights to films from Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony, Disney and MGM studios, and a new streaming-only service priced at $7.99 a month, the company is increasingly becoming more competitive with the cable incumbents.

The Los Angeles Times had previously reported that Netflix would pay Epix close to $1 billion over the life of a five-year deal; not surprisingly, the announcement from the two companies doesn’t mention price and describes the pact only as a “multi-year” one. There also seems to be a bit of a hedge in the release, which doesn’t say that Netflix gets all of Epix’s movies–just an “array” of them.

Still, it’s a major move for Netflix (NFLX), and undoubtedly a nice cash infusion for Epix, which has struggled to get carriage deals from traditional cable operators.

As I noted yesterday, this deal may make Netflix more competitive with cable, but it’s not designed to threaten Hollywood’s DVD business. Netflix still won’t be able to get consumers the movies over the Web until they reach Epix’s “window,” which means they’ll have been available on DVD for some time before that. Epix is owned by three big studios–Viacom’s (VIA) Paramount, Lionsgate (LGF) and MGM–and none of them wants to cut off their disc dollars.

Also important to note that the deal is designed to mollify Epix’s current and would-be cable partners, via another window–Netflix subscribers will have to wait 90 days after movies debut on Epix before these customers can get the movies over the Web.

EPIX AND NETFLIX ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE INTERNET-ONLY DEAL TO INSTANTLY STREAM EPIX MOVIES TO NETFLIX MEMBERS

NEW YORK and BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., August 10, 2010 – EPIX™ and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] today announced an agreement through which Netflix members can instantly watch an array of new releases and library titles from EPIX streamed over the Internet from Netflix. Movies from the multi-year deal will begin streaming from Netflix on September 1 and include movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.
EPIX has subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies from the libraries of its partners and will make these movies available to Netflix 90 days after their premium pay TV and subscription on demand debuts. Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release.

For Netflix, the agreement is a significant step in building the company’s streaming offer, adding many popular movie titles from some of the world’s leading studios. It adds meaningfully to a growing library of movies and TV shows that can be watched instantly on TVs via a range of leading consumer electronic devices capable of streaming from Netflix and on computers.

For EPIX, the deal reflects the value of the EPIX platform which, from its start, has provided new rights and flexibility for the distribution of its movies. The agreement allows EPIX to continue the distribution of popular content on a variety of platforms and preserve the premium television, subscription on demand and online window reserved for cable, satellite and telco television partners.

“Adding EPIX to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of Netflix as a leader in entertainment delivered over the Web,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “The EPIX deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet.”

Mark Greenberg, president of EPIX, added: “Netflix is an incredibly popular service and we welcome them as our newest distribution partner. We are pleased to be able to continue our mission of bringing consumers the movies where they want to watch them, while satisfying the differing needs of cable, telco and satellite operators. This deal also underscores the tremendous value of our offerings in the marketplace.”

The movie studios have worried that Redbox’s $1-a-day rental model, which now accounts for nearly one out every $5 spent on DVDs, undercut every other revenue stream they had. But several big studios–including Sony (SNE), Lionsgate (LGF), Disney (DIS) and Paramount, a unit of Viacom (VIA)–have figured out how to live the company.

Meanwhile, three others–Time Warner’s (TWX) Warner Bros., News Corp.’s (NWS) 20th Century Fox and GE’s (GE) NBC Universal–have been fighting Redbox in court.

Make that two others. Warner Bros. just announced a settlement with Redbox. And given Warner’s size and clout, you have to wonder how much longer the two other studios will need to keep fighting.

This settlement looks an awful lot like the one that Warner and Netflix agreed to earlier this year. Which is to say: Warner got pretty much what it wanted–protection of its 28-day DVD sales “window”–and the other side argues that it’s okay, really.

The theory is that by giving up the ability to get movies to consumers right away, Redbox saves money on the DVDs it does get and will have access to a wider selection. Redbox also says this will help the company if its wants to get into digital distribution. Though unlike Netflix (NFLX), Redbox is a long away from being a plausible player in digital.

But make no mistake. This is a costly window and one that Redbox wouldn’t agree to unless the studios had regained the upper hand. From Pali Research’s Rich Greenfield, via a clairvoyant note (title: “It’s Not Easy Being Redbox, with 2010 Set to Get Even More Challenging; Provides Hope For Movie Biz”):

While Redbox management declined to answer a question related to whether there business would be impacted by 10% from a 30-day window (that Redbox agreed to and stopped pursuing workarounds), we believe 10% is far too low. Redbox relies on the new-release business, if it did not, it would not be suing three studios. We suspect the impact is closer to 35-50% than 10% (albeit Redbox’s cost per DVD would come down), particularly as once a window is established the studios will spend heavily to hammer home to consumers that movies are available other places before Redbox (which generate higher gross profit dollars to the studio per transaction than via Redbox).

Release:

WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT AND REDBOX ANNOUNCE A MULTI-YEAR DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

Companies Agree to 28-Day Window for DVD and Blu-ray Titles

BURBANK, Calif. And OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill, February 16, 2010 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and redbox today announced a new multi-year distribution agreement that will make Warner Bros. new release DVD and Blu-ray titles available to redbox customers after a 28-day window. The agreement also marks the end of the lawsuit that redbox filed against Warner Home Video in August 2009.

“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to sit down with redbox and negotiate an arrangement that benefits both parties and allows us to continue making our films available to redbox customers,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. “The 28-day window enables us to get the most from the sales potential of our titles and maximize VOD usage.”

The new arrangement provides redbox with reduced product costs, sufficient quantities of product and optimal stock levels four weeks after street date as well as extends redbox’s access to Blu-ray titles, which redbox is currently testing in select markets. The agreement also provides Warner Bros. the opportunity to maximize the sales of new release titles as well as video on demand and other forms of digital distribution.

“This agreement enables redbox to fulfill our commitment to providing consumers affordable and convenient home entertainment,” said Mitch Lowe, president, redbox. “By agreeing to a delayed release date, redbox can now acquire Warner Home Video titles at a reduced product cost, preserving value for our consumers and increasing customer access to Warner titles at redbox locations nationwide.”

Warner Home Video and redbox will be implementing delayed availability during the month of March and will reach a four-week window by March 23 with the release of The Blind Side. The new agreement will run through January 31, 2012. Redbox has also agreed to destroy Warner Home Video content following its lifespan in kiosks.

“The 28-day window for redbox balances the economics of our relationship while continuing to offer great value to their customers,” said Ron Sanders, president, Warner Home Video. “This accord establishes a mutually beneficial relationship that will foster an ongoing and productive partnership.”

Warner Bros. is currently a leader in many home video categories including total video (DVD and Blu-ray combined), Theatrical Catalog video, TV on DVD, and Blu-ray and will ensure the DVD rental company access to sufficient quantities of Warner Home Video titles including The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Box, The Informant!, Where the Wild Things Are, The Blind Side, and Sherlock Holmes.

What’s not included: almost any first-run TV show or newly released movie. That’s the content that’s made Hulu successful and what’s also driven traffic to offerings from CBS and Disney’s ABC.

You can’t accuse the Google guys of overselling this: In a press conference today, they described it as a “first step, a baby step.”

Google (GOOG) did say that it had added new content partners, but it was maddeningly imprecise about which ones it had signed up and what content they were providing. The company did confirm, however, that Sony (SNE), via its Crackle video site, would be providing content.

Google also said that it now has “thousands” of television shows and “hundreds” of movies; prior to this, the company said its catalog consisted of just “hundreds” of TV shows and “dozens” of movies.

But this is still primarily “long tail” stuff. The only first-run CBS (CBS) show YouTube offers, for instance, is “Harper’s Island,” which YouTube already offered. And if you recognize any of the following new YouTube partners, then it means you’re a show business insider: Endemol, Anime Network, Scott Entertainment, Entertainment Rights, Shout Factory, Telenext Media, Documentary Channel, First Look Studios, IndieFlix, Saavn, Snag Films, Venevision and Bandai.

Still, YouTube needs as much licensed content it can get its hands on in order to lure more advertisers to the site, which has underperformed to date.

Advertisers who do want to sign up will have a new option: a “Google TV ads” product that inserts ads into the shows, à la Google’s Adsense for Web publishers. Google said it will use “pre-roll,” “mid-roll” and “post-roll” ads–i.e., video ads that run before, during and after the movie or TV show–as well as the overlay ads that cover the bottom part of the screen, briefly, with a translucent pitch.

Google will also allow video providers to sell their own content, and in some cases, will allow them to use their own video player, a first for the company. Sony, for instance, will use its Crackle video player for its content.

Reports that YouTube had a deal with Sony to show full-length movies and TV shows on the site surfaced earlier this month. Last month, reports also indicated that YouTube was talking to Disney (DIS) about getting movies and ABC TV shows on the site, but since then I’ve been told that Hulu, the joint venture between News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox and GE’s (GE) NBC, has all but locked up ABC shows for an exclusive deal.

Here are two releases, one describing the new section and the other describing the new ad product. Screenshots follow.

Watch Shows and Movies on YouTube: Today we’re excited to announce a new destination for television shows and an improved landing page for movies on YouTube, where partners like Crackle, CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, Starz, the BBC and many others have made thousands of television episodes and hundreds of movies available for you to watch, comment on, favorite and share. This addition is one of many efforts underway to ensure that we’re offering you all the different kinds of video you want to see, from bedroom vlogs and citizen journalism reports to music videos and full-length films and TV shows.

To help you navigate through all this great content, we’re introducing two new tabs to the YouTube masthead: the “Shows” tab allows you to browse shows by genre, network, title and popularity, while the “Subscriptions” tab will grant logged-in users one-click access to fresh content from their favorite creators.

Another change you’ll notice today is the wider roll-out of in-stream ads, which we’ve been testing since October, to support our shows and movies content — not unlike what you might see when viewing this type of content on TV.

While shows and movies are currently limited to users in the US, we look forward to expanding to other regions as soon as possible.

We hope you enjoy watching shows and movies on YouTube. There’s still work to be done and we look forward to iterating with you, whether that’s rolling out new engagement features, expanding our content offering or improving your viewing experience. And, as with everything we do, we’ll track your usage and feedback to preserve your fundamental YouTube experience while we take these steps to enhance it.

Yours,
Sara Pollack
Entertainment Marketing Manager
The YouTube Team

Reach TV viewers through more than one screen
By Geoff Smith, Product Manager for Google TV Ads

Google TV Ads makes it easy for advertisers of all sizes to reach customers watching television. These days, many full-length television programs are also available for Internet users to watch online. These programs may appear in various places, including the websites of the networks which originally broadcast them and on other sites that specialize in video content. What if an advertiser wants to reach the audience of a particular program, no matter whether they’re watching on a television or online?

We’re excited to announce the beta launch of Google TV Ads Online. This is a new feature of Google TV Ads that lets advertisers place commercials into the ad breaks of TV programs watched online. It works in the same way as Google TV Ads: advertisers can target specific programs and select their cost-per-thousand (CPM) bid. Based on their targets, budget and bid, ads are inserted in the same program breaks that were designed for advertising when the programs first aired. (Ads may also be shown “pre-roll”, before the program begins, or after the online presentation of the program “post-roll.”) And like Google TV ads, we provide advertisers with measurement tools that give greater insight into how their ads perform with users.

One website where viewers are consuming more and more full-length content online is YouTube. Today, YouTube launched a new destination for full-length shows and movies, and advertisers will be able to use Google TV Ads Online to reach the millions of people who come to YouTube to watch this content. That’s not only good for advertisers, but content partners who are looking to generate revenue from their videos online. Ads will also be shown on other websites that carry full-length video programs.

Google TV Ads Online is still in beta and available to advertisers by invitation only. If you’re interested in learning more about it or would like to be considered for the program, please contact Erin Bouchier at erinb@google.com.

Here’s what the new YouTube video player looks like in full-screen mode (click to enlarge):

And here’s a “landing page” for YouTube TV shows:

And so the company has begun offering a video-downloading service for its PlayStation 3 videogame console. Announcing the service at the gaming industry’s E3 conference in Los Angeles, Sony (SNE) said TV-show rentals will cost $1.99 per episode and movie rentals $2.99 to $5.99. Movie purchases will start at $9.99 and top out at $14.99. Not bad for content from Sony Pictures, Fox Film & Television (NWS), MGM (MGM), Lionsgate (LGF), Warner Bros. (TWX), Disney (DIS), Paramount (VIA) and Turner Entertainment (TWX). Certainly a compelling proposition for the 10 million or so PS3 users in the U.S., who no longer really need to buy an Apple TV (AAPL) or Netflix Player (NFLX) to deliver downloadable video to their TV sets.

Still, PlayStation Network’s video delivery service faces stiff competition from those rivals and from Microsoft (MSFT), which on Monday announced a deal with Netflix to stream movies over the Internet to the Xbox 360 game console. That said, Sony doesn’t seem much concerned with Microsoft, which it seems to view as a bit behind the curve. “The Xbox 360 is irrelevant in Japan, and in Europe PlayStation 3 sales have passed the Xbox 360,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We have a good dog fight in the U.S. but worldwide, when you look at a global footprint, the PS3 is the only console that can offer developers the ability to amortize costs over three markets. We’re looking at this as a marathon and we’re confident that the PlayStation 3 will win the crown.”

And so the company has begun offering a video-downloading service for its PlayStation 3 videogame console. Announcing the service at the gaming industry’s E3 conference in Los Angeles, Sony (SNE) said TV-show rentals will cost $1.99 per episode and movie rentals $2.99 to $5.99. Movie purchases will start at $9.99 and top out at $14.99. Not bad for content from Sony Pictures, Fox Film & Television (NWS), MGM (MGM), Lionsgate (LGF), Warner Bros. (TWX), Disney (DIS), Paramount (VIA) and Turner Entertainment (TWX). Certainly a compelling proposition for the 10 million or so PS3 users in the U.S., who no longer really need to buy an Apple TV (AAPL) or Netflix Player (NFLX) to deliver downloadable video to their TV sets.

Still, PlayStation Network’s video delivery service faces stiff competition from those rivals and from Microsoft (MSFT), which on Monday announced a deal with Netflix to stream movies over the Internet to the Xbox 360 game console. That said, Sony doesn’t seem much concerned with Microsoft, which it seems to view as a bit behind the curve. “The Xbox 360 is irrelevant in Japan, and in Europe PlayStation 3 sales have passed the Xbox 360,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We have a good dog fight in the U.S. but worldwide, when you look at a global footprint, the PS3 is the only console that can offer developers the ability to amortize costs over three markets. We’re looking at this as a marathon and we’re confident that the PlayStation 3 will win the crown.”

And so the company has begun offering a video-downloading service for its PlayStation 3 videogame console. Announcing the service at the gaming industry’s E3 conference in Los Angeles, Sony (SNE) said TV-show rentals will cost $1.99 per episode and movie rentals $2.99 to $5.99. Movie purchases will start at $9.99 and top out at $14.99. Not bad for content from Sony Pictures, Fox Film & Television (NWS), MGM (MGM), Lionsgate (LGF), Warner Bros. (TWX), Disney (DIS), Paramount (VIA) and Turner Entertainment (TWX). Certainly a compelling proposition for the 10 million or so PS3 users in the U.S., who no longer really need to buy an Apple TV (AAPL) or Netflix Player (NFLX) to deliver downloadable video to their TV sets.

Still, PlayStation Network’s video delivery service faces stiff competition from those rivals and from Microsoft (MSFT), which on Monday announced a deal with Netflix to stream movies over the Internet to the Xbox 360 game console. That said, Sony doesn’t seem much concerned with Microsoft, which it seems to view as a bit behind the curve. “The Xbox 360 is irrelevant in Japan, and in Europe PlayStation 3 sales have passed the Xbox 360,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We have a good dog fight in the U.S. but worldwide, when you look at a global footprint, the PS3 is the only console that can offer developers the ability to amortize costs over three markets. We’re looking at this as a marathon and we’re confident that the PlayStation 3 will win the crown.”

Yesterday, Time Warner (TWX) CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said that Warner Bros. plans to experiment with VOD releases day-and-date with DVD later this year. And now this morning, Apple (AAPL) announced that a number of major and independent movie studios have agreed to make their films available on iTunes day-and-date with DVD–$9.99 for library title purchases and $14.99 for new release purchases. Among the studios participating in the deal: 20th Century Fox (NWS), Walt Disney Studios (DIS), Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures (VIA), Universal Studios Home Entertainment (GE), Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE), Lionsgate (LGF), Image Entertainment (DISK) and First Look Studios (FRST.PK).

An impressive lineup and one that clearly heralds a shift in the movie industry’s view of digital distribution. A shift in iTunes movie purchases as well–upward. The removal of Hollywood’s typical 30-day lead time on DVD releases will no doubt boost new-release sales on iTunes, assuming customers don’t mind paying $14.99 for films that lack the extra features and picture quality of their DVD counterparts. It will boost movie studio revenues as well. With no manufacturing and reproduction costs to speak of, margins from day-and-date download releases are presumably quite high.

So much for that hard-fought DVD format war …