The movie rental game may have just gotten a new major player. A source close to situation told the New York Times that YouTube has inked deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers to rent movies through the Google-owned video streaming website.
According to the source, the rental fees will be on par with iTunes. However, unlike iTunes, Walt Disney Studios, which has close ties to Apple, has reportedly not yet signed a deal with YouTube.
This shouldn't come as a shock as YouTube already streams movies from smaller studios like Lionsgate Entertainment and the Weinstein Company. The addition of larger studios like Sony and Warner Bros. puts the site that everyone associates with cat videos and Rebecca Black almost in the same league as Amazon, iTunes, and Netflix.
YouTube has not officially commented on the deal, only telling the Times: "We've steadily been adding more and more titles since launching movies for rent on YouTube over a year ago and now have thousands of titles available."
[via NYT]
