YouTube to enter movie rental business
YouTube is launching a movie rental service in a partnership with Hollywood film giants including Sony and Warner Bros, to rival Netflix and Apple’s iTunes.
The new service means a full-bore challenge to Apple’s iTunes service and Netflix, between them they dominate the online movie streaming market. Netflix, with 23.6 million subscribers, the US-only site now commands as many eyeballs as Comcast, the largest cable operator in the US. Apple’s iTunes, meanwhile, offers a formidable roster of new releases to download and to rent online.
The service may start as early as this week or next, and is expected to be announced soon by YouTube.
Major studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal have licensed their movies for the new service, as have numerous independent studios, including Lionsgate and the library-rich Kino Lorber, according to movie executives with knowledge of the deals in place.
YouTube, which was bought for $1.6bn by Google in 2006, generated about $544m in revenue last year and is thought to have recently become profitable.
Coming to a living room near you
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Holte Ender
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