YouTube brings Hollywood studio on board
Developments in the Film Industry: As was announced last week, Google plans to launch a channel on its YouTube video platform where users can watch full-length movies for free. The online giant has now found its first major partner for this initiative: MGM.
Innovations in the film industry: As was announced last week, Google is planning to set up a channel on the video platform YouTube where complete films can be consumed free of charge. The online giant has now found its first major partner. Metro-Goldwyn Mayers (MGM) is the first major Hollywood studio to show full-length feature films on the network. As Pressetext reported on Monday based on information from Cnet, MGM will probably not be the only film studio to cooperate with YouTube in this respect. Lionsgate, for example, had already agreed on a partnership last summer. However, this cooperation has so far only included the provision of short clips and film excerpts.
"The agreement with MGM will include full-length feature films as well as series and excerpts from popular productions," explains Henning Dorstewitz, press spokesperson for YouTube at Google Germany, to Pressetext. However, the service will initially only be available in the USA. It will mainly show archive material. "But it won't just be old classics, more recent films will also be included," says Dorstewitz. The new project will be financed by advertising revenue, which will be split between Google and the cooperation partners. YouTube had already agreed a similar collaboration with the US broadcaster CBS in October.
The partnership with MGM could mean a fundamental turnaround for Google in its strained relationship with Hollywood. Until now, film studios and the IT group have often been at loggerheads over copyright issues. Time and again, protected content has been and continues to be uploaded to YouTube by users. Although the platform has now introduced a program that detects copyright infringements and removes the films in question, the entertainment industry is not satisfied with this solution.
It is not yet known what the agreements between Google and MGM actually look like. Usually, YouTube's cooperation partners receive a 70 percent share of the advertising revenue. It seems likely that other film studios will be interested in the planned feature film project. However, a small obstacle could be Google's commitment to a specific advertising format, as reported by informed circles. According to the press release, some studios already fear that users will not accept the commercials to the extent that they will make the broadcast profitable.
"The agreement with MGM will include full-length feature films as well as series and excerpts from popular productions," explains Henning Dorstewitz, press spokesperson for YouTube at Google Germany, to Pressetext. However, the service will initially only be available in the USA. It will mainly show archive material. "But it won't just be old classics, more recent films will also be included," says Dorstewitz. The new project will be financed by advertising revenue, which will be split between Google and the cooperation partners. YouTube had already agreed a similar collaboration with the US broadcaster CBS in October.
The partnership with MGM could mean a fundamental turnaround for Google in its strained relationship with Hollywood. Until now, film studios and the IT group have often been at loggerheads over copyright issues. Time and again, protected content has been and continues to be uploaded to YouTube by users. Although the platform has now introduced a program that detects copyright infringements and removes the films in question, the entertainment industry is not satisfied with this solution.
It is not yet known what the agreements between Google and MGM actually look like. Usually, YouTube's cooperation partners receive a 70 percent share of the advertising revenue. It seems likely that other film studios will be interested in the planned feature film project. However, a small obstacle could be Google's commitment to a specific advertising format, as reported by informed circles. According to the press release, some studios already fear that users will not accept the commercials to the extent that they will make the broadcast profitable.
