So says a report from News.com, and it seems a no brainer on the face of it: YouTube, owned by Google (NSDQ: GOOG), has tried to get full length movies and TV shows from major networks and studios for a while now, but has failed to make major headway due to queasiness on part of the conglomerates. The media/entertainment companies worry about putting their shows/movies in what has primarily been perceived to be a user-gen-heavy environment, and then putting all eggs in one video basket, so to speak.
According to the story, YouTube has been talking to the major film companies about launching an ad-supported, streaming movie service. A studio source I spoke to said nothing's final yet, or anywhere near it, but headway has been made. The video site has built a "Screening Room" recently, with the idea to showcase indie movies there. That could feasibly be expanded to include major studio content as well. Some sticking points include how many and what kinds of ads could be places in movies. If YouTube chooses to go the minimalist Hulu route, then they better have patience with scaling up enough on the ad deals side (not audience, which it arguably has) to monetise it effectively. Even Hulu has to start considering that seriously.
Photo Credit: The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello via YouTube Screening Room
From paidContent:
• Interview: Tom Staggs, CFO, Disney: $930m digital revs 'slightly less' than hoped, 'still pleased'
• Industry Moves: Former Time vet Robin Domeniconi to head up MSFT ad sales in US
• GetBack Media gets $1.7m first round; revamps pop culture archive
• Earnings: EW Scripps swings to loss; cuts 400 jobs; online newspaper revs fall 12%
• Earnings: Discovery Networks revs rise 11%; ad revs gain 5%
From paidContent:UK:
• Virgin Media considers content divison sell-off to become comms platform, not content producer
• Russian portal rambler lays off 50% of staff after blocked Google deal: reports
• Sportech buys football gaming business 4thegame.com for £600,000
• EMI Music to reorg; divided into three global units; emi.com's limited scope
• Earnings: Deutsche Telecom earnings up 12%, data usage jumps 28%
• BT to launch ad-supported content on Freeview; another bt.com exec moves to Virgin Media
• Wilmington stuck with big bill from failed takeover; sells three magazines
