It used to be that when people wanted to watch a movie at home, they went to the video rental store, namely the kings of video rental, Blockbuster. Today, Blockbuster is all, but gone, conquered by the competition of video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu (News - Alert), and Amazon Prime. Going out and driving to the video store to pay for a movie just didn’t make sense any longer when people could pay a monthly fee and watch as many videos as they wanted without ever leaving their home. Netflix and the other services seem to have taken a comfortable place at the top of the video world, but they may find that world being shaken up soon.

AOL (News - Alert) has thrown its hat into the arena in the world of video streaming, with its service AOL On. The service features smaller featured videos, and competes against other services like Yahoo Videos and Youtube. Now, AOL is gearing up to join the movie streaming world. AOL has signed a deal with Miramax that will bring a selection of the entertainment company’s movies to AOL On. The deal will be used in launching AOL On’s new “Movies” section.

Miramax is also signing deals all around the video streaming world, so what is it that makes this deal so special. Unlike most services that use subscription, AOL On is free to use. Instead of having viewers pay to access the movies, they will instead feature advertisements. With services like Netflix rising in price, a free movie streaming service is an innovation that may attract many and challenge the status quo.

At first, AOL ON’s (News - Alert) movie options will still be limited, with only a few Miramax films being up for viewing at a time, with the offerings being alternated on a regular basis. The other services have hundreds of movies and TV shows. AOL will need to sign a few more deals before they can truly compete, something they are reportedly working on. Another issue they may need to face is that people do not particularly enjoy advertisements interrupting their movie watching, and may even be willing to pay to not have them. However, AOL executives have stated that they will incorporate advertisements in a way that will not be disruptive.

AOL On isn’t just taking on streaming services when it comes to movies, they are also working on original television shows, with the first being an American version of the popular Israeli series “Connected”. The company has stated that it wishes to develop the service, which at the moment mainly features shorts and clips, into a comprehensive video service that spans the spectrum of video watching.

This major jump for AOL On is planned to be released on April 30, at which point anyone will be able to watch a selection of Miramax’s films for free.