The final numbers are in, and YouTube’s experiment with film rentals for five films, which were available for 10 days, received a combined 2,684 views. Movies rented for $3.99, which gives a total of $10,709.16 for the company to divvy up.
"It definitely exceeded our expectations given all the barriers," YouTube spokesman Chris Dale told The New York Times. "The odds are always stacked against independent film makers. This allowed them to reach a bigger audience."
It’s hard to know how to call this one; it’s either a mediocre success or a good omen for the likes of Netflix, Apple and Amazon.com.
The films were five independent flicks from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, so there’s a good chance the move to YouTube greatly expanded their viewing audience even with these few views; only about one in five of the 2009 films had a commercial theatrical release over the course of last year.
YouTube doesn’t seem to have anything set up currently to see new films for rent or what content is expected to come available soon, which will ultimately be a build the company does. So far, YouTube has said it is looking into videos from education and health fields as well as hands-on videos and anime cartoons for its next set of releases, all of which sound like they’ll get a reception similar to the films from Sundance.
YouTube has said it is in talks with more studios about securing rights for rentals, but so far, there are no names or hints as to the what or the when of an expanded service with professionally produced content. |
