YOU TUBE & SONY:
YouTube is talking to acquire licensing rights to full-length content from Sony Pictures,home of such films as "The International" and "Spider-Man,".
Details about what a final agreement could look like are sparse, but any partnership between the two powerhouses would likely benefit both.Representatives from both companies declined to comment.Word of the negotiations comes a week after Disney announced it had licensed short-form content to YouTube. Those clips will come from a range of Disney brands, including ABC and ESPN. For YouTube, obtaining short-form clips from Disney is an important step but still doesn't provide what YouTube needs most. starting from 2005, YouTube made a name for itself by showcasing amateur-made snippets as well as hosting scores of illegally posted clips from the best TV shows and films. YouTube has done much to rid the site of pirated content, but the flip side is that most of the hot shows and films that generated big viewership are gone. At the same time, a host of Web video services are offering full-length films and TV episodes online. To compete, YouTube is trying to get access to the same premium content but has so far only acquired a handful of films from the archives of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.Sony Pictures' Web video property, could mean a major boost to YouTube's long-form hopes.
Like to see YouTube as a movie channel?
YouTube is trying to become a player in Hollywood at a time when the online video sector with an increasing number of savvy and very watchable Web video services. YouTube, which did more than any company to create the online video sector, is at risk of when it comes to offering the kind of content most sought after by audiences as well as advertisers.Hulu, the ad-supported video portal formed by News Corp. and NBC Universal, has become synonymous with. The service is easy to use and provides a high-quality viewing experience. Netflix's Web streaming requires a monthly subscription fee to access movies but can boast a a much larger movie-library than Hulu. Netflix has also made the all-important jump from showing films on a PC to delivering streaming video to a TV, via set-top boxes, such as Roku and Xbox 360. Apple can offer mobility to those who download movies and TV shows to iPhones and iPods.
The cable companies are also talking up their own online-video plans. After decades of pumping money into Hollywood, the cable operators and premium movie channels could have an advantage when it comes to acquiring studio content.
