YouTube is now offering U.K. users the chance to watch hundreds of free movies, bringing the offering it rolled out in the U.S. last year across the Atlantic. Sure, the initial offerings aren’t exactly Hollywood A-list, but still.
YouTube Widens Net
YouTube has evolved by a vast amount since its early days. Copyright infringement has pretty much been eradicated, and the amount and variety of content that can be viewed on the site has increased exponentially.
Not content with being the ubiquitous destination for UGC, YouTube has also started offering professional content. There are now sections dedicated to TV shows, music videos, and movies.
The ‘Movies’ section has now made it to the U.K., with a number of deals allowing the site to offer a good number of free feature films.
YouTube Movies
YouTube Movies made its U.S. debut last year, with content partners including MGM and Lionsgate bringing feature films to the site. Now, the U.K. has been afforded the same honor.
Sony Pictures and Blinkbox are the first U.K. partners to sign deals, and it means an initial offering of around 400 movies. Unlike the U.S. offering, none of the U.K. movies are available to rent, all being free and supported by advertising.
YouTube head of video partnerships, Donagh O’Malley, told The Guardian newspaper:
“This is one of many efforts to ensure that people can find all the different kinds of video they want to see, from bedroom vlogs and citizen journalism reports to full-length films and TV shows. We hope film lovers enjoy the range of titles in this free library, whether catching up on a mainstream hit or delving into the vast archive of classic films from decades past.”
The range of titles is a little limited at the moment. Although there are sixteen genres covered, including Bollywood, Comedy, and Horror, there are very few films that are well-known or likely well-loved. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, I guess, and these are all free to watch.
Conclusions
continues to up its games, offering more content to its increasingly large audience. Ten years ago I couldn’t have imagined having free and legal access to movies on the Internet, and now even the mainstream darling YouTube is offering them.
The next step is, obviously, to improve the quality of films being offered, which will only happen by new deals being struck with big partners.
