In the last couple of weeks, YouTube has added 500 hundred new movie titles from Paramount Pictures and more than 600 titles from MGM. This means the six major studios and more than 10 independent movie studios are currently offering movies for rent on YouTube and Google Play in the U.S. and Canada.
What Does This Mean to Viewers?
Paramount, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, has been responsible for some of the most memorable films in cinema history. So, whether you’re a fan of a five-time Oscar winning movie about a boy’s adventures in Paris, a charming high school slacker who takes a day off from school, or the most perfect mafia trilogy ever made, YouTube and Google Play will have what you’re looking for thanks to Paramount.
Thanks to MGM, you’ll be able to grab its movies online and on the go. From timeless love stories like West Side Story and Moonstruck, to sci-fi action films like The Terminator and Robocop, to modern classics like Rocky and Rain Man, you can now rediscover MGM’s moviemaking magic on Google Play and YouTube.
With the addition of Paramount and MGM, YouTube now has nearly 9,500 movies for rent to millions of people around the world. According to a recent IHS Screen Digest study, online movie watching in the U.S. will double this year and will make up the majority of people’s home entertainment viewing.
So more viewers can be expected to grab some popcorn, sit back and press play.
What Does This Mean to Marketers?
If you are interested in reaching film buffs, horror movie fans, or action movie fans, then YouTube offers the right environment, the right partners, and the right tools to engage more of your audience than most other online sites.
For example, if you are interested in reaching film buffs, 63 percent are on YouTube. According to Nielsen @Plan Q3’11, film buffs are defined as people, 18 to 34, who have attended a movie in the last 30 days. There are 17.9 million film buffs online and 11 million of them visit YouTube each month. By comparison, IMDb reaches 3.1 million film buffs.
If you’re interested in reaching horror movie fans, 62 percent are on YouTube. According to Nielsen @Plan Q3’11, horror movie fans are defined as males aged 18 to 34 with household income of less than $100,000 that rented or attended a horror movie in the past 30 days. There are 5.3 million horror movie fans online and 3.3 million of them visit YouTube each month. By comparison, IMDb reaches 780,000 horror movie fans.
And if you’re interested in reaching action movie fans, 52 percent are on YouTube. According to Nielsen @Plan Q3’11, action movie fans are defined as male high school graduates who earn less than $75,000 and have rented or attended an action movie in the past 30 days. There are 6.1 million action movie fans online and 3.2 million of them visit YouTube each month. By comparison, IMDb reaches 599,100 Action Movie Fans.
YouTube’s Blockbuster Growth
Now, YouTube’s collection of movie titles and concentration of movie fans didn’t happen overnight. It started back in January 2010, when YouTube announced that it was going to begin testing movie rentals starting with movies from the Sundance Film Festival.
In May 2011, YouTube added 3,000 new movie titles for rent in the U.S. This included memorable hits and cult classics like Caddyshack, Goodfellas, Scarface, and Taxi Driver as well as blockbuster new releases like Inception, The King’s Speech, Little Fockers, The Green Hornet and Despicable Me.
Then in November 2011, the first of hundreds of The Walt Disney Studios movies from Disney, Disney·Pixar and DreamWorks Studios started coming to YouTube. This included the beloved animated classic, Alice in Wonderland and the newly envisioned Winnie the Pooh. It also included Disney·Pixar hits like Cars and Cars 2. And it included all four of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, including the most recent blockbuster in the franchise Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
So, if you still think of YouTube as that little video-sharing site with lots of short-form, user-generated content, then you need to check it out again – soon. Click on the Movies tab to the right of the Browse tab and scan the selection of titles. And imagine how much popcorn you could sell – if you can just figure out a way to download popcorn.