After years of bleeding money, Google finally said that YouTube was very close to profitability. Of course, that was a year and a half ago and, while Google has been singing the same tune since, it hasn’t actually said if the video site is profitable or not or how much it’s bringing in.
But Google is still working on driving revenues up, with a big push into feature film streaming sometime in early 2011, according to rumors.
Google is expanding its feature film streaming service, says a source who’s been briefed on the product. The service will likely be an expansion of the current movie rental/streaming test launched by Google earlier this year. Announcements should be made in early 2011, says our source, and will be heavily marketed.
Ex-Netflix executive Robert Kyncl, who was hired by Google earlier this year, is negotiating studio deals, says our source. The service will initially focus on top tier films and to focus marketing efforts there, including pairing with Google TV. A deeper library will be added over time. Existing rental titles are certainly not new release top tier films.
Earlier this month Google acquired video delivery company Widevine. Technology from Widevine may be used to power the new movie service.
