YouTube rental challenge: getting off the desk, onto the couch
The site known for its "check out this clip" ubiquity could soon become the scene of another kind of check-out.
As the , YouTube is in talks with major movie studios to introduce a rental scheme that would stream movies to users from the first day they're available on DVD. The cost? $4 a flick.
The deal has already been dissected at length elsewhere, so here's a few of the lesser-reported particulars:
鈥� Lions Gate, Sony, and Warner Bros. are all in separate talks with YouTube.
鈥� Though studios already offer video downloads and streaming through services such as iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu, YouTube commands a much larger audience 鈥� with around 430 million visitors a month.
鈥� This would be YouTube's first paid-content venture; previously the company had made money solely through advertising, and has yet to turn a profit.
Could a YouTube rental scheme work? Signs point to ... maybe. The main question being asked on the Web: ?
Thus far, the on YouTube has been , but last month for the film's 25th anniversary brought in 680,000 viewers. An injection of new releases could bring more interest, but, as many have echoed, who wants to watch a feature film on a computer screen, alone, with chintzy speakers or headphones 鈥� and pay for it?
This is where Netflix has the upper hand. Its partnerships with devices such as the Xbox 360, TiVo, Roku's set-top box, and LG TVs and Blu-ray players allow it to stream movies directly to TVs 鈥� the place where viewers are much more likely to watch feature-length content (especially if they're paying for it).
Your typical American just doesn't have a computer hooked to their TV. If YouTube rolls out movie rentals without accounting for how people like to watch movies, expect numbers to flop worse than, say, .
For another take on what YouTube must do to help its rental plan succeed, check out PC World's .
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YouTube? . Twitter too 鈥� how 'bout ?
