MGM Signs on With YouTube for Full-Length Videos

Most of the content on YouTube (legal content, that is) is user-generated, and in short clips. Meanwhile Hulu specializes in full-length TV shows and feature films, which generates much more ad revenue.

According to The New York Times, MGM and YouTube are set to announce a deal which will lead to full-length MGM films and TV shows being shown on YouTube. At the same time, earlier last week, C|Net wrote about similar movements by YouTube, but did not indicate a specific partner, but rather a more general move by YouTube with many partners.

According to the report:

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.

Hmm, ads running alongside the video? Wonder how distracting that will be? And only clips from recent films?

Despite the fact that the content above doesn't seem all that wonderful, this is still a great step for YouTube. The site has been trying to "make nice" with Hollywood since it debuted, as one the chief criticisms of YouTube has been the amount of copyrighted material that shows up on the site.

But it was the emergence of Hulu that really set the bar for YouTube.

Earlier in October, YouTube announced a deal with CBS to show such TV shows as Beverly Hills: 90210, Star Trek, and MacGyver.