Friday, October 7, 2011

YouTube introduces online movie rentals in the UK

YouTube has launched its movie rental service in the UK. Film fans can now rent new releases for £3.49 and older movies for between £2.49 and £3.49 from the video site, Media Guardian reported.

This move puts YouTube in direct competition with Amazon's LoveFilm, which claims its customer base reaches 1.6 million in the UK and Europe. Non-members need to pay between £2.49 and £3.49 for a new release through LoveFilm.

YouTube’s new service will grant viewers a 30-day window to watch the film, and 48 hours once they have started viewing it.

YouTube has signed UK-specific deals with several film companies, including Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal and Lionsgate, TechCrunch reported.

The UK is YouTube’s third market where movie rental business is available. It launched the video-on-demand service in U.S. in May this year, and later in Canada.

This initiative follows longstanding deals with broadcasters, such as Channel 4 and Channel 5, which programmes are available on the site, Media Guardian reported.

"We're happy to be working with partners of all sizes to bring more content to YouTube users,” according to Patrick Walker, senior director of content partnerships for YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

"In addition to clips, user-created and long-form TV content our British users know and love, now movie lovers can find full-length feature films on YouTube in the UK."

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