YouTube took its first step towards a comprehensive movie service, reaching a deal with a big Hollywood studio to start showing full-length television shows and films. The video-sharing Web site is set to announce that it will host TV episodes and movies from the archives of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in its latest step to boost advertising revenue.
The deal is expected to be the first of many. It emerged over the weekend that the site, which is owned by Google, was in negotiations with other Hollywood studios. One report from the CNET news Web site suggested a YouTube movie service could be available within 90 days.
MGM will post videos from full-length action movies such as "Bulletproof Monk" and "The Magnificent Seven," and its decades-old "American Gladiators" program. They will be free to watch, with advertising running alongside the video.
In October, YouTube forged a similar partnership with CBS to run full-length archived TV shows, including "Star Trek" and "Beverly Hills 90210."
The new partnerships put YouTube in more direct competition with Hulu, the online video site owned by News Corporation and General Electric's NBC Universal.
Times of London
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