YouTube launches free UK movie streaming service

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 27 Aug 2010 at 12:10

YouTube has launched a free film-streaming site in the UK, opening with a catalogue of more than 400 titles.

The on-demand YouTube Movies is the first step in a catalogue that it hopes to expand over time, and will use rate-adaptive streaming to deliver films over broadband.

The announcement follows deals with US movie studios, including MGM and Sony, as well as UK-based film streaming website Blinkbox.

The library is effectively an exercise in marketing, according to Blinkbox, which usually rents movies for between 99p and £2.99 per stream.

“We hope that people will try them and then come back and use Blinkbox, although we are making some revenue from adverts sold around the service,” Blinkbox CEO Michael Comish told PC Pro.

Although the films on offer include renowned titles with headline actors, don’t expect the latest blockbusters to be available. Most titles fall into what could best be described as “classic”, “arthouse” or “cult” categories.

The free streams from Blinkbox, for example, include titles such as The Hotel New Hampshire and Berlin Film Festival “Best Film” nominee The Addiction.

This service builds on YouTube’s existing TV Shows section of the site, which includes catch-up programmes made available by Channel 4 and Channel Five, among others.