Google, who owns video sharing site YouTube, is reportedly in talks with major Hollywood studios to launch a global pay-per-view movie streaming service.
According to The Financial Times, the latest movies would be released on YouTube at the same time as the on iTunes, DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The FT also predicts that it would cost somewhere in the region of $5 to stream 'newer movies', presumably with older titles being potentially discounted below this. YouTube has already been beta-testing a movie rental service since January.
As DVD sales rapidly decline, the next few years will see a massive shift from physical media to online distribution - Blockbuster is already closing hundreds or even thousands of stores this year as it prepares to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. Movie subscription service Netflix is already "aggressively acquiring" the rights to stream movies, while movie/TV streaming website Hulu, owned by Walt Disney, News Corp and NBC, is planning on floating itself on the stock market.
The latest moves by Google to bring online movie rental to YouTube will mark another big step in the inevitable mass adoption of digital rather than physical media.
Source: The Financial Times (free sign-up required)
According to The Financial Times, the latest movies would be released on YouTube at the same time as the on iTunes, DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The FT also predicts that it would cost somewhere in the region of $5 to stream 'newer movies', presumably with older titles being potentially discounted below this. YouTube has already been beta-testing a movie rental service since January.
As DVD sales rapidly decline, the next few years will see a massive shift from physical media to online distribution - Blockbuster is already closing hundreds or even thousands of stores this year as it prepares to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. Movie subscription service Netflix is already "aggressively acquiring" the rights to stream movies, while movie/TV streaming website Hulu, owned by Walt Disney, News Corp and NBC, is planning on floating itself on the stock market.
The latest moves by Google to bring online movie rental to YouTube will mark another big step in the inevitable mass adoption of digital rather than physical media.
Source: The Financial Times (free sign-up required)