YouTube is to make Disney's library of films available on its new movie rental site for the first time as part of the Google-owned website's ongoing bid to present itself as the No 1 destination for video on demand in a rapidly developing marketplace.
The deal means films from Disney, its wholly-owned subsidiary Pixar, and other studios such as DreamWorks (which distribute via the Mouse House) will be available to stream online. Titles initially available will include films such as Cars 2, Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
YouTube marketing executive Minjae Ormes said newer titles would be joined over time by classic movies from the Disney back catalogue. "Check back in because even more of the great Disney classics and new releases will be added in weeks to come, including our YouTube Movie Extras with behind-the-scenes clips, interviews and more," he wrote on the YouTube movies blog.
YouTube launched its movie rental site in May as it seeks to reposition itself as a one-stop shop for on-demand video. The site is also launching a co-branded channel with Disney with a reported budget of between $10m and $15m, one of more than 100 it plans to unleash, all based on original programming. The channel will be available on both Disney.com and YouTube, launching in early 2012. "Disney Interactive will produce and programme the co-branded video destinations for both Disney.com and YouTube, providing a family-friendly experience for viewers across both platforms," Disney and YouTube said in a statement earlier this month. YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65bn in 2006, and the investment reflects the company's view that the internet is the next phase in the television business.
In the UK, YouTube has moved into a soon-to-be crowded video-on-demand marketplace that already includes Amazon-owned LoveFilm's movie streaming service and will see US giant Netflix enter the fray in early 2012. The latter announced last month that it is making its first venture into Europe by launching in the UK and Ireland next year.
LoveFilm announced its own deal to show Disney films in April. The service also has agreements with film studios such as MGM, Momentum and Warner Bros. Netflix has more than 25 million users in the US, Canada and Latin America, while LoveFilm has more than 1.6 million subscribers in the UK and Europe.
YouTube remains the top hosting destination for amateur video with more than 3bn views per day, and boasts that more footage is uploaded to the site in one month than the three major US networks have created in 60 years. However, it has yet to prove itself as the No 1 destination for paidfor video on demand in the face of increasing competition from Apple's iTunes, Hulu and Netflix, among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment