Web TV startup Joost launched on Tuesday with a few new tricks up its sleeve.
Joost will be carrying Turner Broadcasting content, including The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and CNN,
along with programming from Hasbro, the NHL, Sports Illustrated and Sony Pictures Television.
The five new content owners bring programming across a range of genres, including comedy, cartoons,
film, news, documentaries, lifestyle, and sports. This all adds to Joost's existing deals with Viacom, Warner Music, National Geographic, and Endemol, the Dutch production company responsible for "Big
Brother." It will all be free to consumers.
Thanks to maturing online ad models and high-quality copyright-safe platforms, content producers are showing a new willingness to distribute their wares
online.
"Online distribution is extremely important to Turner," said Dennis Quinn, executive vice president of business development for Turner Broadcasting System. "With Joost we are confident
that our programming is secure and distributed in the high-quality format that is true to our brands."
Joost, founded by the same entrepreneurs--Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis--who brought the
world Skype and Kazaa, last week announced a lineup of 32 major brand advertisers to support its content.
Aided by a year-long partnership with Interpublic Group's Emerging Media Lab, brand
advertisers include Microsoft, Intel, Motorola, and Sony Electronics, to name a few--along with separate deals with Hewlett-Packard, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Nike.
Unlike video-sharing
sites like YouTube, which are dominated by short clips, Joost has made it its mission to popularize long-form, high-quality, ad-supported content online.
"The ability to make Joost a viable
business, versus just a cool technology or viewer experience, lies in our ability to bring together advertisers, content owners and viewers," said Friis. "Our business model was developed with the
interests of our viewers and partners at the core."
Over the next month, Joost will begin offering Turner's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and "Robot Chicken," among other Adult Swim programming. From
Turner's CNN, Joost users will gain access to "Anderson Cooper 360Ú," "Larry King Live," and other programs.
Sony Pictures Television will add classic programming from the '70s, '80s, and
'90s, including "Charlie's Angels," "Spiderman," "Starsky & Hutch" and "SWAT." SI, meanwhile, will distribute video shorts and interviews from this year's SI Swimsuit photo shoots.
The National
Hockey League plans to begin broadcasting a selection of Vintage games from the NHL archives on Joost, along with full game replays and highlights from regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games. In
addition, Hasbro plans to give Joost viewer cult classic cartoons like Transformers and G.I. Joe.