The announcement comes as YouTube is facing stiff competition from Hulu for viewing copyrighted videos. Hulu offers full-length videos of popular TV shows and some movies.
YouTube will be offering episodes of “American Gladiators,” an 80s television show, on its own YouTube channel. It is also offering full-length films such as “Lone Wolf McQuade” and “Bulletproof Monk,” as well as clips from “Rocky” and “The Magnificent Seven.”
A joint release by YouTube and MGM said that the videos would be free but would contain advertising.
YouTube recently signed an agreement with CBS to add episodes of “Star Trek” and “MacGyver” to its site.
Competing with Hulu
Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp., is a video-streaming website that offers free streaming video of TV shows and movies from major networks and studios such as NBC, FOX and other major U.S. channels. In addition, Hulu also offers over 100 motion pictures that are provided by Universal, Fox and other studios.
In contrast to YouTube, Hulu is legally allowed to show such copyrighted video clips due to its tie-ups with the major studios and networks. In addition, it provides video in extremely high-resolution and bit-rate, sometimes meeting Enhanced-definition Television (EDTV) standards, which is far superior to the quality offered by most video-sharing sites such as YouTube.
In contrast, YouTube is still a social networking video sharing website that allows users to upload and share video content. While it remains the video website with the most traffic, Hulu and other sites that offer legitimate ways to watch popular TV shows and movies have seen their viewership grow steadily.
In addition, YouTube has been criticized for not being able to ensure that the videos on its site adhere to copyright. It has been targetted with numerous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) lawsuits by major studios for videos on its site that are owned by the studios or networks.
In July 2008, Viacom won a court order that required YouTube to turn in data with viewers’ viewing habits.
Due to complex licensing requirements and copyright issues, copyrighted videos offered by both YouTube and Hulu are available for viewing only in the United States.
