YouTube, Sony Agree To Streaming TV, Movie Deal
Posted on: Friday, 17 April 2009, 11:10 CDT
YouTube will begin streaming Hollywood films due to a recent agreement with Sony Corp, in an effort to earn more advertising revenue and compete with services like Hulu.
YouTube’s “Movies” service features full-length movies from Lionsgate, MGM, and Starz, among others.
In addition to Hollywood films, YouTube’s new “Shows” service launched Thursday night. The service will allow users to stream episodes of a variety of television shows from providers such as BBC Worldwide, CBS, Discovery Networks, Lionsgate, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, National Geographic, PBS, Sony's Crackle, and Starz.
The Google Inc-owned video-sharing site also announced a partnership with Walt Disney Co to use excerpts of content from ABC and ESPN.
YouTube’s effort to legitimize content represents a move away from its previous history of allowing users to distribute unauthorized content.
YouTube’s relationship with Hollywood hasn’t always been pleasant. The file-sharing site is currently involved in an infringement lawsuit with Viacom Inc.
"We are in active negotiations with premium content providers and are looking forward to announcing more content partnerships in the near future," said YouTube spokesman Chris Dale.
The move toward more authorized content also shows YouTube’s effort to gain traction against rival streaming service, Hulu, which is a partnership between General Electric Co's NBC and News Corp's Fox.
"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," YouTube said in a post on the official company blog.
Last week Google and Universal announced a new partnership that plans to create a music video entertainment service called Vevo.
Universal will be responsible for the content while YouTube will be creating the Web site. The two companies will gain a share of earnings from Web ads.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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