Report: Google After Miramax Digital Rights

23 Nov, 2010 By: Chris Tribbey

---

Google may try to turn YouTube into a full feature film destination by buying the digital rights to Miramax’s 700-plus-film library, according to a report in the New York Post.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper also reported that Walt Disney Co.’s $664 million sale of Miramax to Filmyard Holdings is expected to close in early December.

“We’re always talking to the studios about different things and Disney remains a valuable YouTube partner,” a Google spokesman told the paper. “Outside of that, we don't comment on rumor or speculation.”

Netflix is also said to be eyeing digital rights to the catalog.

In August, Tom Adams, principal U.S. analyst with Screen Media, said consumer interest in catalog on physical media has dropped in recent years, but digital libraries are still garnering interest from investors.

“A decline in film library valuations … was clearly warranted, given the shrinking disc-sale business — the biggest source of cash flow earlier in the decade,” Adams said. “But [the Miramax deal and others] indicate that a bottom is forming. If past swings in library values are any indication, buyers today may end up benefiting from loss-cutting by buyers who overpaid during the mid-decade peak in the DVD-buying frenzy.”
 

Bookmark it: