Warner Offers TV, Films Through Guba
Warner Bros. said Tuesday that it had struck a deal with Guba, a YouTube competior, to distribute feature films and TV shows over the Internet. Films could be rented for $1.79 per day, or purchased for $9.99 for older titles, and $19.99 for newer releases.
Guba is betting that its new deal with a major studio would help raise its profile in an increasingly crowded social video space. It also shows a willingness on the part of movie studios to work with technologies they once eschewed.
"This new service brings premium studio content to an Internet audience in an easy-to-use and intuitive way, without the necessity of downloading additional software," Guba CEO Tom McInerney said. "For years we've been making access to online video easy - now we're bringing that experience to Warner Bros.' catalog of films and TV shows."
New releases would be made available on Guba on the same day as they are released in stores. Currently, the service's television show selection is limited to reruns of classic Warner Bros. owned shows, including Babylon 5, Dukes of Hazzard, The Flintstones and The Jetsons.
Content is encoded in Windows Media format, which would be playable on PCs and portable devices supporting Windows Media DRM. iPod users are not supported by the Guba service.
"With Guba, more Internet users will be able to legally and securely buy and rent our films and TV series," Warner digital distribution senior vice president Jim Wuthrich said. "Warner is committed to providing our programming to fans when, where and how they want it, and this deal is another example of our commitment to do that."