YouTube Adds 4,000 TV Episodes And 1,500 Movies, All Free With Ads

deadline.com:

As viewership of YouTube in the living room continues to grow, the company is getting into the ad-supported longform game, adding 4,000 library TV episodes and 1,500 movies.The move will give the Google-owned video power more of a profile in the burgeoning AVOD marketplace.

Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Disney and WarnerMedia have all either acquired major AVOD services or launched their own, doing battle with Roku, Crackle and a number of others in the space.

The focus has come as cord-cutting and smart-TV adoption both continue to shape the entertainment sector.Advertising has long been the lifeblood of YouTube and its parent company, Alphabet, and the wind has recently been at the company’s back.

In the fourth quarter, YouTube reported a 25% year-over-year increase in ad revenue, to $8.6 billion.Series included in the new set of offerings include Hell’s Kitchen, Andromeda and Heartland.