When MGM's Quantum of Solace opens later this week, James Bond fans will be rushing to their local multiplex. Will the next move be to rush back home to see it again on the small screen?
Don't bet on it, even if MGM is striking a deal with Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube today. Google's popular video-sharing site will begin showing full-length movies and television episodes from the storied MGM vault, in exchange for a piece of the ad revenue action.
Don't expect to see James Bond or Rocky turning up just yet. MGM is testing the waters by putting out less glitzy -- but still appealing -- entries like Bulletproof Monk and television shows like American Gladiator and Fame.
Slow and steady seems like the right approach. There's still more money to be made on MGM's more bankable franchises by selling them or licensing them to TV networks than by giving them away for a trickle of ad revenue. That mindset may change, of course, if Google comes to dominate display advertising the same way it has paid search.
Winning over major content creators as revenue-sharing partners has been a major goal at YouTube. CBS (NYSE: CBS) has been a partner for two years, even as sister company Viacom (NYSE: VIA) is engaged in a $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube.
However, networks and studios have been reluctant to hand over full-length content. As of this morning, MGM's official channel on YouTube contains little more than theatrical movie trailers. CBS has uploaded a whopping 11,700 videos, but they consist mostly of short clips or promotional teasers.
MGM -- which is owned by several companies, including Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) -- is hoping that YouTube's clip-culture junkies, with their limited attention spans, can cultivate an appetite for longform video. If not, it certainly helps that home theater appliances like TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), or smartphone titans like Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, now offer access to YouTube away from the computer.
With a growing number of outlets, viewers, and monetization possibilities, maybe the day will come when Bond, James Bond is on Tube, YouTube.
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