YouTube to Offer Full-length Movies from Shows MGM

YouTube will now offer full-length feature films and television programming from MGM, in an agreement that is expected to be announced today. This is the second significant partnership announced recently by YouTube, with the first being a limited arrangement with CBS that allows YouTube access to archived CBS television programming like Star Trek and Beverly Hills 90210. The typical YouTube video-sharing format only allows for shorter clips of content to be shown at once -- usually only about 10 minutes of content before the player will stop and a new snippet of content would have to be accessed by the viewer.

The new, full-length content will be viewed with advertising running alongside the video. For several months, YouTube has been experimenting with full-length content from HBO and Showtime, although it is still unclear how effective this content will be as an advertising vehicle.

The MGM partnership continues to push YouTube into more direct content with Hulu, which is owned by NewsCorp and General Electric's NBC Universal. Hulu already offers full-length and updated content from NBC, Fox and CBS.

Ultimately, the jury is still out on the viability of full-length video content as an advertising vehicle on the Internet. While there is certainly room for monetization of the content, it is difficult to imagine the Internet and a computer screen as the preferred viewing medium for video content. Especially given the success of TiVo and digital video recorders as well as On-Demand services from television service providers. With those types of devices and services, viewers can watch advertising-free content, on-demand -- and watch it on large-screen high-definition televisions in the comfort of an easy chair. It's difficult to imagine where the online viewing experience can compare to that scenario, although we all look forward to seeing how the industry tries.