AP Sources: YouTube to offer online movie rentals

YouTube on Friday began letting people in Britain rent movies for viewing online at the Google-owned video-sharing website."We've got some cracking films to keep everyone entertained through the upcoming winter months and beyond," YouTube business product manager Matteo Vallone said in a blog post announcing the launch in Britain.More than a thousand full-length films from studios in Hollywood or Britain are available for streaming online as rentals at youtube.com/movies, according to Vallone.

(catastrophegirl)

TORONTO — Canadians who would like to own the films they’ve just seen at the theatre will soon have a chance to double-up at the box-office, as part of an agreement between Cineplex Inc. (TSX:CGX) and several major Hollywood studios. The country’s largest theatre chain is about the launch SuperTicket, a hybrid of both a movie admission and a digital download of the same film. Here’s how it works:

YouTube gets Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Lionsgate and other studios to offer their movies on its website the same day they are available on other on-demand services.Google Inc.'s YouTube dramatically expanded its movie rental service with the addition of 3,000 titles from major Hollywood studios, positioning the dominant online video service to capitalize on the growing number of Internet-connected televisions and portable devices.

YouTube is owned by Google, which is also set to make a play in the lucrative music-streaming market, but reportedly has a negotiating team separate from that of its parent company.

Dana Blankenhorn submits: At first glance the whole idea sounds silly. What would Google (GOOG) want with Netflix (NFLX) when it already has YouTube? The real question is why Netflix should sell, right? Right.

(Beth Lennon)