SALT LAKE CITY — YouTube quietly added 100 new free movies to its platform, but it comes with a catch.
What’s happening: YouTube recently made a deal with movie studio MGM to offer 100 different MGM films that will be free to all users, USA Today reports.
The catch: The films will be supported by ads unless you subscribe to the platforms’ $9.99 monthly YouTube Premium offer.
- The films will appear under the “Free to Watch” option under the recently released collection of movies and TV show that are available for rent or sale.
- "We saw this opportunity based on user demand, beyond just offering paid movies," Rohit Dhawan, director of product management at YouTube told Ad Age. "It also presents a nice opportunity for advertisers."
What films?: Available films under this deal include "Rocky" and "Pink Panther" movies, the original "Terminator," "Legally Blonde," "Zookeeper,” among many others.
- According to Gizmodo, YouTube can add free movies to its service because of the major deals it has with Hollywood studios.
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Big picture: As Mental Floss noted, YouTube joins a list of other companies joining the stream service arena, like Nickelodeon’s NickSplat and Disney with Disney+, which is expected to launch in 2019.