After a soft launch and lots of speculation and delay, YouTube has rolled out a major expansion of its movie rental service. The world’s largest video site now offers around 3,000 feature films.
Selections run from classics like Goodfellas and Scarface to new films likeInception and The King’s Speech. Newer films are mostly priced at $3.99 per rental, with older titles coming in at $2.99. Renters have 30 days to begin viewing their films on their computer or mobile device, and movies expire 24 hours after they’re begun.
YouTube chief Salar Kamangar said the following in a letter posted to YouTube:
“Six years ago, there were also two types of video: video you watched on your TV, and video you watched on your laptop . . . Today there’s increasingly just video, and it’s available everywhere: on a phone, a tablet, a laptop or a television screen, in your office, on your couch, in a cab.”
Now that YouTube’s in the VOD business for real, will this new service be a success. How many of you will forego the price advantage of Redbox to rent and view a film from the convenience of your own computer or mobile device?
(via The Wrap)
Redbox is great but often doesn’t have newer releases, so if it’s a newer movie I’ll pay for it on AppleTV or now YouTube. But does it download or just stream?
$3.99 for lo-res video with 2-channel sound?? No thanks!
I’m sure they will re-work their pricing structure once they determine nobody is renting from them. Studios won’t let them rent new releases for less than $3.99 I’m guessing, but older titles should be $1 or less.
Personally I will never rent from them. They can’t even keep their 1 minute video clips running without having to pause and re-buffer.
I am totally satisfied with Netflix so I will never pay $3.99 or even $2.99 for a movie. I will still go to Redbox for the $1.00 movies. I especially like the old movies form 1910, 20, 30 40, 50 and 60s. Boy, they sure made some good movies then.
After trying this website again. I hadn’t realized what a ghost town this has become. Looking back at the last few pages of topics I believe the topics are averaging about 2 comments per topic. It is officially time to call this site DEAD.
I enjoy reading the articles on this site and perusing the comments. I hope they stay around a long time!