Los Angeles — The online movie-rental domain has attained another victory Friday, as the popular video-sharing network YouTube has quietly opened an online film rental store in the US, offering an assortment of movies and TV episodes, after it experimented with the service in January.
The video network has initially tested out the service with five Sundance Film Festival movies this January, which according to New York Times said at the time that it generated around $10,709 for Google during that period.
However, the site is now extending a vast selection of movies and TV shows for 48 hour rentals mostly between 99 cents and $3.99. YouTube offers its customers between 24 and 72 hours to rent a movie from its store (US only).
Now YouTube has reinforced its store and is offering more titles to customers in the US. New content providers include Independent, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment, Crackle.com, Bollywood, Magna and Screen Media.
Titles being listed include Oscar-winner Precious, The Cove, Reservoir Dogs, Pi, 3:10 to Yuma, Girl with the Pearl Earring, and Saw III, as well as Anime episodes, children’s programs, and documentaries.
“When we announced YouTube Rentals in January we said we would be building a destination after more partners joined the program. To date, we have nearly 500 partners that have joined our Rental program,” a YouTube spokesman said in a statement.
Online video rentals are being experimented by a number of sites and services, including Netflix, iTunes, Blockbuster and Amazon. Microsoft has also seen some success in renting videos for more than 3 years through its XBox Video Marketplace.
Video-on-demand margins are especially catching attraction to a number of content providers and services, since connectivity and playback costs are borne by the user and his or her high-speed Internet service provider, and because there is little additional labor involved to support more viewers.
Michael Gartenberg, associate and analyst at the Altimeter Group, said that the make-or-break standards of a flourishing online video-rental service involves “scope, scale and equipment support.”
YouTube’s entry, he said, “has the feeling right now of an experiment,” particularly because it is not clear how extensive its selections will be, if this is a regular pricing model, or what kind of equipments it will support.
However, it is not evident how the firm plans to beat rivals such as Amazon and Netflix with its current biz strategy for the site, which launched quietly this week. Earlier this week, there were reports that Hulu, a popular site that features TV shows and movies, will start offering a $10 monthly service in late May.
The new service would give subscribers access to older episodes of current TV shows, beyond the most recent five episodes, which would remain free and advertiser-supported.
The end is distinctly in sight for that method. YouTube is a great lightweight video community. If existing channel producers leverage the rental store on occasion, it could be a nice win for everyone. Bring on the rentals!
Rental fees are paid through Google Check-out.