Joost scores first deal with major broadcaster, CBS

CBS has been something of a leader in embracing new distribution models for content, turning to embrace webcasting back when few major players were interested. Now CBS is at it again, hooking up with Joost, the P2P "Internet TV" platform.

CBS is the first national broadcaster to ink a deal with Joost, but it isn't an exclusive deal. CBS will be distributing content on a number of web portals as well, including AOL and MSN. The company also hopes to strike a deal with the new News Corp/NBC joint venture. As you would expect, CBS will be licensing shows that have already aired on television. Early titles will include the original CSI, NCIS, and the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. They are not going to try to control each distribution point, instead CBS is willing to license its content to "secure" partners like Joost in return for a large cut of the ad revenue. So it looks like Joost is well on it's way, after recently working out a deal with Viacom, which will allow one to see full-length movies from Paramount on Joost. They are still in beta for both the Mac and the PC. The article points out that per their testing, the application performed pretty well, and they were impressed that the selection of content appears to be getting better with each day that passes. The video quality is somewhat of a letdown though as it is a bit less than standard TV quality. The best part of course is that it is free. Joost continues to grow and secure deals that will put them on top in no time. Very fascinating to watch.