The popular video site Hulu has began gathering more and more full-length feature films from various decades and genres--providing easy-to-access, high-quality movies that are--(that word that everybody seems to like) FREE to people seeking entertainment on the internet.A recently added film, THE BEGUILED, a suspenseful drama from 1971 starring Clint Eastwood, is a primary example of the types of digital-quality feeds of (here's that word again) FREE entertainment that's starting to find it's way to the web. Apparently, Hulu isn't the only streaming site that is appropriating films from Hollywood to add to their extensive library of recorded television programs. Last week, YouTube signed a deal with Sony Pictures to provide more professional-level content for the site, which, originally, was founded around it's ability to provide a site for average Joes and Janes to publish their own amatuer-level video content.
Sony has already agreed to begin posting several television shows like BEWITCHED and CHARLIE'S ANGELS--and has also agreed to post full-length features like BLUE LAGOON, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, and NOWHERE TO RUN. Hulu already boasts a very extensive library of television programs which feature provided ad material in exchange for the ability to stream content. YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006, also indicated last week that it would also begin to provide ad material on content provided exclusively for their use.
Now, the question remains, "How does this affect users of both YouTube and Hulu?" For now, it just means you'll be able to acquire more and more free hours of entertainment. But in the future, with the potential for membership fees to both sites for "exclusive" content from Hollywood studios and talk of internet service providers charging rates for bandwidth taken up by streaming content, will the term 'PAY PER VIEW' take on a new meaning online? Or will these new developments usher in a new age of amatuer filmmaking that provides a platform for creating revenue streams out of previously undistributable projects?
Source: CNET News
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