YouTube Joins the Movie Renters Club, Store Now Open
If a proprietor approaches you about funding his brick and mortar movie rental venture, turn around and run in the other direction just as fast as you can go. Accuse us of overreacting if you will. but we're calling it folks: the in-store movie rental business is dead. Deceased. Six feet under. Pushing up daisies. However you want to put it, the point is the time for streaming video is now, and while your local mom and pop video store has probably already withered away, we have to wonder how long Blockbuster and Hollywood video can maintain a brick and mortar presence.
Earlier this week, news broke that Hulu is flirting with a subscription based service called Hulu Plus, which will deliver more extensive content for a $9.95 monthly subscription. Perhaps more appealing is YouTube's quiet rollout today of its online video rental store.
That's right, you can now rent from a fairly wide variety of flicks on YouTube. Prices range from $0.99 to $3.99, which is handled through Google Check-out, and you have up to 48 hours to watch the rented title. This isn't a totally new venture for YouTube -- the streaming service experimented with select Sundance Film Festival movies earlier this year -- but it is the first time YouTube has jumped into the online rental business with both feet.
Check out the store here, which includes movies like "3:10 to Yuma," "Brothers," the "Saw" series, and a whole bunch more. Anyone plan on renting anything?
Earlier this week, news broke that Hulu is flirting with a subscription based service called Hulu Plus, which will deliver more extensive content for a $9.95 monthly subscription. Perhaps more appealing is YouTube's quiet rollout today of its online video rental store.
That's right, you can now rent from a fairly wide variety of flicks on YouTube. Prices range from $0.99 to $3.99, which is handled through Google Check-out, and you have up to 48 hours to watch the rented title. This isn't a totally new venture for YouTube -- the streaming service experimented with select Sundance Film Festival movies earlier this year -- but it is the first time YouTube has jumped into the online rental business with both feet.
Check out the store here, which includes movies like "3:10 to Yuma," "Brothers," the "Saw" series, and a whole bunch more. Anyone plan on renting anything?
