Custom Wire
Google Inc.’s YouTube said Thursday it is vastly expanding its library of full-length movies and TV shows it offers online, while also launching a new advertising service and adding about a dozen new content partners.The offering, which went live late Thursday, marks a further departure from the fuzzy homemade clips that made the Web site popular and is the latest move in YouTube’s attempt to boost sales and profits.
Seattle Times:
It’s not hard to picture this on prime-time TV: a sitcom called “Family” about a woman and two dudes shacking up in a polyamorous relationship. In fact, independent Seattle filmmaker Terisa Greenan’s short, biweekly YouTube “Family” webisodes — seven and counting — have drawn the Kinsey Institute’s attention as a sort of landmark on the subject and put a spotlight on this area as one of the nation’s, uh, hotbeds of the lifestyle.
Variety:
The entertainment biz will remember 2008 as the year when global revenues from digital media exceeded revenue generated by movie theaters and homevideo combined. In its “Global Media & Entertainment Market Forecast, 2004 – 2012,” London research firm Strategy Analytics reported that online and mobile channels accounted for $90 billion in worldwide revenues; the global filmed entertainment market generated $83.1 billion. “We’re starting to see now that digital media is becoming a significant part of revenue for a lot of companies,” says Strategy Analytics director of digital media research Martin Olausson. “A few years back, everyone was still discussing whether movies would be distributed online. That’s not a discussion anymore.”
