Peer-to-peer (P2P) site BitTorrent has reached a deal with major studios to digitally distribute movies and TV programs.

BitTorrent will launch an online video store early next year, allowing users to download movies from studios such as Paramount, Lionsgate, and Twentieth-Century Fox, as well as television shows from MTV Networks, CNET reports. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

"We come to the table with a solution to piracy," Eric Patterson, BitTorrent's general manager of consumer services, is quoted as saying. "Millions of people are using BitTorrent to download content legally and illegally. We know from our research that 30 percent of that audience will pay for content. We're going to help the studios turn an enormous problem into a viable sales channel."

Up against the likes of Wal-Mart and Amazon, BitTorrent will likely face an uphill battle in the movie download biz, but the P2P network says it can differentiate itself by offering quicker downloads.

While the music industry has turned a cold shoulder to P2P services and content-sharing sites, the movie industry has been much more receptive in using sites such as YouTube to seed and distribute film trailers and other content.