YouTube nabbed a revenue-share agreement with Lionsgate, under which the independent film studio will get a branded video channel to broadcast movie clips -- from pictures such as "Dirty Dancing" -- and TV clips, including "Weeds" (right).
Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed the agreement at an industry conference, according to Hollywood Reporter. YouTube confirmed the deal.
In reality, an agreement like this probably won't add much to YouTube's bottom line, but any revenue is better than none. Since Google closed its acquisition of the site close to 2 years ago, ad sales have been a challenge. Advertisers are reluctant to associate their brands with amateurish videos. And although traffic on the site is obscene -- an estimated 82 million people watched 4.1 billion videos on the site in May -- there isn't an obvious ad solution that satisfies everyone.
Pre-roll ads -- short commercials that run before a video starts -- are widely hated by most viewers, especially on short videos. Google recently started experimenting with inline and overlay ads, which are considered less intrusive, but advertisers say they're also less effective than pre-roll spots.
Photo: Courtesy Showtime
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