YouTube has been best known for its short clips but that's about to change. The New York Timesreports that YouTube has cut a deal with MGM that will have MGM posting full-length films on the video sharing website.
On Monday, YouTube will move forward a little, announcing an agreement to show some full-length television shows and films from MGM, the financially troubled 84-year-old film studio.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios will kick off the partnership by posting episodes of its decade-old "American Gladiators" program to YouTube, along with full-length action films like "Bulletproof Monk" and "The Magnificent Seven" and clips from popular movies like "Legally Blonde." These will be free to watch, with ads running alongside the video.
The initial lineup may not be all that compelling, but for YouTube, which is owned by Google, the relationship with MGM is a crucial step in an essential reinvention. YouTube had its debut in 2005 and quickly became famous for the democratic sharing of bite-size video clips. Users love the site - 81 million people visited in September alone, according to Nielsen.
MGM has YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/mgm. The site currently just has a movie trailers on it so we can't be sure this is where the full MGM films will be located tomorrow.
The YouTube-MGM deal is likely a reaction to the success of the Hulu website which includes full episodes from tv shows as well as some full-length movies. Short clips are great fun but people are more than ready for longer content. Improvements in monitors and computer speed have people eager to view tv shows and movies on their desktops and laptops. Recent web hits like Whedon's terrific Dr. Horrible have proven that Internet users will sit for shows that last longer than five minutes. Internet users are actually frustrated that there is not much more full-length tv and film content available online. It seems like the studios are starting to receive that message.
