The Youtube experiment in pay-to-view movie downloads managed to pull in just $10,709.16, a success rate that will not have its competitors worrying too much.

However, we could be getting just a bit too cynical, the movies to rent were by any standard ‘geek material’ from the five different Sundance Film Festival movies which were available on the website for 10 days. The rental cost per movie was $3.99,  meaning that 2,684 movies were paid for and hopefully watched.

Although hardly setting the movie world alight, it was an interesting experiment that Youtube told the NYT it was very happy with. A Youtube spokesman told the NYT that the experiment “exceeded our expectations given all the barriers.” He also said that watching any kind of film online, let alone independent films, remains a relatively new and untested experience. Interesting Netflix have revealed that around 6 million of its customers like to stream movies via the net.

“The odds are always stacked against independent film makers. This allowed them to reach a bigger audience.” Some of the films at Sundance may have been seen by a few hundred people, and the YouTube test may have allowed them to double their audience, he added.

Of course they didnt tell anyone what their expectations were to begin with, but it has shown the video giant that given the right material and exposure there is a market for them. In fact they are planning to present more rentals from different partners. It is possible that a more popular lineup will be a roaring financial success

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