YouTube expands video rental service

YouTube on Monday said it is expanding its online video rental service, adding some 3,000 new movies for users in the United States to rent.

The announcement confirmed recent media reports, including The New York Times, that Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers had agreed to rent movies on the site.

"You're spending just 15 minutes a day on YouTube, and spending five hours a day watching TV. As the lines between online and off- line continue to blur, we think that's going to change," said Salar Kamangar, head of YouTube, in a company blog post.

In addition to big movie studios, YouTube is also bolstering investment in content providers, mentoring and encouraging them to produce original content for the web and attracting audiences.

YouTube, operating as a subsidiary of Google, recently has been trying to offer professional content in addition to home video clips, accelerating its shift to Hollywood entertainment to compete with on-demand Internet streaming video provider Netflix. The expansion of the movie rental service is expected to provide a new revenue source for the company.