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Just An Online Minute... Media Biggies Bolster YouTube Rival Joost

YouTube rival Joost just got a $45 million infusion from companies including Viacom and CBS -- controlled by YouTube frienemy Sumner Redstone.

CBS and Viacom have previously said they will distribute programs online via Joost, the new peer-to-peer video service created by Scandinavian entrepreneurs Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstr"m. That duo previously roiled the entertainment industry with Kazaa, a peer-to-peer service that people used to watch pirated clips. In fact, it wasn't until last November, when they agreed to pay at least $125 million to settle outstanding lawsuits, that the two men felt free to set foot on U.S. soil, according to The New York Times.

Past run-ins aside, the entertainment industry has obviously made up with Friis and Zennstr"m -- or at least decided that the peer-to-peer revolutionaries will make for a useful alternative to YouTube. It's understandable that media companies are wary of Google's YouTube -- if for no other reason than because they're afraid of Google growing even more popular. Google's already become synonymous with search; TV executives likely don't want to see Google also become the gateway to video.

But the fact remains, Google's YouTube currently eclipses other video-sharing sites in terms of audience. Even CBS continues to do deals with the site -- and has praised YouTube for helping to build a TV audience. Last November, CBS said that clips of "The Late Show with David Letterman," and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" on YouTube helped boost those program's TV ratings.

Perhaps companies like Joost can build an audience to rival YouTube, but it won't be easy -- especially since Joost's platform has some flaws. Joost's main advantage is supposed to be its high-quality video streams and, when the service launched on a very limited basis earlier this year, initial reviews were glowing. But the company recently expanded its beta test and the influx of new users has created lengthy delays. Last week, the company chalked up the setbacks to "some problems with the central servers in Luxembourg" in a blog post. A subsequent post said that the central servers had been fixed and that upgrades were in progress, but the buzz online is that the system still has some glitches.

Meanwhile, it seems inevitable that media companies will have to deal with Google's YouTube, if for no other reason than that's where the viewers are.

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