Google Inc. (GOOG)’s YouTube and Google Play video services will get more than 600 programs from News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox studio, adding TV shows and movies such as “Family Guy,” “Glee” and “X-Men.”
The titles will be available for purchase or rent in the U.S., Jonathan Zepp, Google’s manager of TV and film content partnerships, said on the Mountain View, California-based company’s blog. The content will come to other countries later.
The Fox studio is seeking ways to generate more online revenue from its films and TV shows, which often are pirated and viewed for free. Google, meanwhile, wants to expand YouTube beyond its amateur-video roots to become a bigger source of Hollywood entertainment. The company also is trying to bolster Google Play, a service that lets users get movies, shows and books on their Android smartphones and tablets.
Google’s announcement coincided with News Corp. (NWSA)’s introduction today of Digital HD, a service that lets viewers buy and watch high-definition movies on Amazon.com Inc.’s website, Apple Inc.’s iTunes and other platforms, as well as YouTube and Google Play.
Fox, which announced plans to introduce the service on Sept. 7, is offering the sci-fi movie “Prometheus” for less than $15, three weeks before it will be available on DVD.
Google shares climbed 0.7 percent to $714.90 at 11:46 a.m. in New York. News Corp., based in New York, fell 0.5 percent to $24.49.