Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has become the fifth major studio to license its content for rental via YouTube and Google Play, in a deal limited to the U.S. and Canada. The move gives viewers more options for when and how to watch films, and it also juices up YouTube’s revenue generating opportunities.
The new partnership includes over 600 mostly catalog titles with more to come, according to a blog post by Jonathan Zepp, YouTube’s manager of TV/Film Content Partnerships. The initial wave of available movies includes West Side Story, Moonstruck, The Terminator, Robocop, Rain Man and Rocky.
Many if not all of these are already available via Netflix and iTunes, which lead the growing market in streamed home entertainment. MGM has a hugely valuable library that dates back more than 85 years and has garnered over 20 Academy Awards, including 15 Best Picture Oscars. There’s a fun but inexplicably non-embeddable video of the studio’s history here.
Besides the majors, Google has licenses in place with ten significant independent studios like Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company and Relativity Media. It not likely that the final studio will join in anytime soon, since 20th Century Fox’ parent company and Google’s YouTube remain embroiled in a lawsuit.
Related links:
MGM – official site
YouTube blog – MGM Titles Roar onto YouTube and Google Play
The Next Web – Google partners with MGM to bring more than 600 titles to YouTube and Google Play in North America
Los Angeles Times – MGM movies coming to YouTube, Google Play
The Wrap – ‘Terminator,’ ‘Rocky’ Coming to YouTube in MGM Deal
PaidContent – MGM deal adds ‘Rocky,’ ‘Terminator,’ 600 other titles to YouTube catalog
