AOL dips into digital movie downloads

AOL will offer popular films for download at prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99

AOL has announced an agreement with a number of major film studios to offer movie downloads through its AOL Video portal. 

The partnership with 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros will allow visitors to AOL Video to download full-length movies from the site. 

Popular films from recent DVD releases to a large selection of archive movies will be available for download at prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 per movie.

Once downloaded, movies can be viewed offline as well as on other PCs and compatible portable devices.

AOL launched its video portal, which competes with sites like Google, Yahoo, MySpace and YouTube, at the beginning of the month. 

"We are very excited to add digital movie downloads to the AOL Video portal, " said Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL.

"We will continue to add more high quality branded content and we look forward to working even more closely with [the studios]."

Benjamin S. Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, digital distribution and acquisitions, added: "Viewing online digital content is no longer an esoteric pastime.

"Online programming services like AOL's Video portal have the potential to become a major distribution stream for consumer entertainment and a viable revenue source for Hollywood."