YouTube In Talks To Stream Movie Rentals

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (TheStreet) -- YouTube is talking to Hollywood movie studios about streaming movies on a rental basis.

The Google(GOOG Quote) subsidiary is talking to Lions Gate(LGF Quote), Sony(SNE Quote), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Time Warner's(TWX Quote) Warner Bros. about charging for new titles on the existing YouTube site. In some cases, the movies might be available on YouTube the same day they are released on DVD, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The negotiations are ongoing and no deals have yet to be completed. People familiar with the matter told the Journal that new movie rentals are likely to be around $3.99, the same price Apple's(AAPL Quote) iTunes Store and Amazon.com (AMZN Quote) charge for new movie rentals.

"While we don't comment on rumor or speculation, we hope to expand on both our great relationship with movie studios and on the selection and types of videos we offer our community," said YouTube spokesman Chris Dale, the Associated Press reports.

YouTube plans to begin a three-month test of the online rental service this month, the AP reports, citing a person with direct knowledge of the deals.

Every movie studio would likely come to different terms, but most would receive around 60% of the revenue from each rental, with a floor of about $2.40 that could vary depending on the age of the title, the person said, the AP reports.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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