YouTube to Rival iTunes With Its Movie-On-Demand Service

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Posted April 26, 2011 at 12:16pm by iClarified

YouTube has reportedly signed deals with several major studios to offer their movies for rent through the site, according to The Wrap.

The new service means a full-bore challenge to Apple’s iTunes service – currently the most powerful player in paid video streaming -- and a welcome new revenue stream for Hollywood as home entertainment revenues continue their steep decline. The service may start as early as this week or next, and is expected to be announced soon by YouTube.

The Wrap has heard that Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal have licensed their movies for the new service; however, Fox, Paramount, and perhaps Disney have not. They believe YouTube is trying to get all major studios on board before making an announcement.

"We've steadily been adding more and more titles since launching movies for rent on YouTube over a year ago, and now have thousands of titles available," a YouTube spokesperson said. "Outside of that, we don't comment on rumor or speculation."

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YouTube to Rival iTunes With Its Movie-On-Demand Service

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PReaper - April 26, 2011 at 5:24pm

Well at least YouTubes service might be available outside the US..? Then it will kick iTunes ass hard!

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Sabtain - April 26, 2011 at 1:36pm

It also depends on your Internet I hve streamed YouTube on fibre optic and it is very quick

Throdne - April 26, 2011 at 2:07pm

Really. . .? well, you are just one of the lucky ones. I have 22mbps download and 8mbps upload and it still takes days to load a small 15-20MB-ish, 1 minute video at 360p. if you do the math, at 2.75MBps, I should have the video loaded completely in about 4-5-6 seconds. but yet, it takes longer to load the video then the video's length itself. (not all, but most cases) And don't tell me that it's because "i live in the middle of nowhere, like Africa" that's wrong! I'm right outside southern Denver, CO. where the main nods for almost all tragic in Colorado gets forwarded to. and lastly, don't say it's just me then. Because I know of hundreds of people that have the same issue throughout the states.

Trev - April 26, 2011 at 4:44pm

Lol, I suppose it could be possible, but I'm on the verge of calling you a liar. I have great speed tests. Not quite as good as Sabtain, but close. I serve up Videos to some friends and family all the time and they stream from me without issues. The slowness is NOT at the end user's side, it's at You Tube. I mean if the resolution was really high, sure that's somewhat explainable, but low res stuff? When it comes to watching movies, you need a minimum of DVD res or better. I just did some spot checking at my work (we are an ISP). Not going to tell you our stats (confidentiality), but You Tube sucks there as well

PReaper - April 26, 2011 at 5:23pm

I download at 96 Mbit/sec and upload at 75 Mbit/sec and it's quick as hell no matter what I do online ;)

Trev - April 26, 2011 at 12:49pm

LOL!!!! Well, they had better get some bandwidth and more server farms going! Ever noticed how long it takes to get some crappy low res video to finally start playing on You Tube? I'm sorry, but I can't wait for 2 days for an entire movie to buffer. You Tube used to be great, but since they got bought out a few years back it's been a consistent downhill struggle. Just thought this was a funny topic. Cheers

Throdne - April 26, 2011 at 1:20pm

I was going to say the same thing. lol. YouTube is useless because of the stupid loading issue and it hasn't gotten better and I don't think it ever will.