Having taken its first major step into live sports broadcasts earlier this week, YouTube has today ventured into new territory by announcing that it will offer movie rentals direct to its millions of users.
Starting tomorrow and running through Sunday, January 31st, YouTube will offer users the chance to rent five films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festivals. Initially available to U.S. viewers only, the movies are to be offered at a cost of roughly $3.99, with a single rental allowing users to watch a movie at any point over a 48-hour period.
Although YouTube's initial choice of available movies is slim, Google's venture into movie rentals is seen as a major move in the industry, with the company claiming that other movie studios could soon become part of its service.
"These are early days and in the coming weeks we'll also invite a small group of partners across other industries, in addition to independent film, to participate in this new option," said the YouTube team in a statement.
Highlighting its potential to movie studios, YouTube adds that its rental business will "give our partners unprecedented control over the distribution of their work".
"They can decide the price of their videos and the rental duration; they can decide when and where their content is available; and they can keep 100% of their rights," it adds.
Analysts are already predicting that major Hollywood studios will join the service, but YouTube - who has struggled to become a key player in the movie industry in recent years - faces an uphill battle against established services such as Netflix, Apple's iTunes store and Microsoft's Xbox Live.
The first five rentails available via YouTube will be "The Cove," "Bass Ackwards," "One Too Many Mornings," "Homewrecker" and "Children of Invention."
