YouTube in Discussions to Offer Movie Rentals From Major Studios

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that YouTube is in discussions with several major movie studios to bring streaming movie rentals to the service.

YouTube is talking to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. about charging for new titles on the existing YouTube site. In some cases, these titles might be available on the site on the same day that they come out on DVD.

Sources note that movies would likely be priced at approximately $3.99, comparable to movie rentals through Apple's iTunes Store. While details of the potential agreements reportedly vary from studio to studio, some agreements could allow for free, ad-supported distribution of movies.

It is unclear when the service would be publicly launched, although YouTube is reportedly planning a three-month testing period involving about 10,000 Google employees. That testing period was to begin early this month, but longer-than-expected negotiations with the movie studios involved have pushed the start of testing back by an undetermined amount.

Apple introduced iTunes movie rentals in the U.S. in January 2008 and has added offerings in several other countries since that time. High-definition movie rentals debuted on the Apple TV at the same time and were extended on a limited basis to the iTunes Store in March of this year.

Related Forum: Mac Apps

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Mock Header With Dynamic Island

Skipping the iPhone 15 Pro? Here's What's Rumored for iPhone 16 Pro

Friday September 22, 2023 9:29 am PDT by
Are you skipping the iPhone 15 Pro and waiting another year to upgrade? If so, we already have some iPhone 16 Pro rumors for you. Below, we recap new features rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models so far:Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain...
Apple WWDC23 macOS Sonoma hero

macOS Sonoma Launching This Week With These New Features

Sunday September 24, 2023 12:45 pm PDT by
Apple previously announced that macOS Sonoma will be released this Tuesday, September 26. The free software update includes many new features and changes for the Mac, including the five that we have highlighted below. In addition to these five features, we have shared the full release notes for macOS Sonoma below for a complete overview of everything new. Desktop Widgets macOS Sonoma...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 double tap gesture 230912

watchOS 10.1 to Enable Apple Watch's New 'Double Tap' Gesture

Thursday September 21, 2023 12:52 pm PDT by
The new Double Tap gesture for the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be enabled starting with watchOS 10.1, according to Marques Brownlee, host of the popular tech-focused YouTube channel MKBHD. The first beta of watchOS 10.1 will likely be available by next week, and Apple announced that the software update will be released next month. Brownlee shared his impressions...