Viacom signs content deal with YouTube rival Joost

by Adam Turner

Wednesday, 21 February 2007

Viacom's determination to play hardball with YouTube has gone a step further, with a partnership between Viacom and YouTube rival Joost - a video sharing site created by the founders of Skype.

A wealth of content from Viacom's TV channels - including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central - as well as Paramount movies will be available free for Joost users under the deal. Joost, formerly known as the Venice Project, uses peer-to-peer file sharing networks rather than central servers to deliver content. The service is still in beta, but is designed from the ground up to be a secure site working with content providers such as Viacom, rather than against them.

The move comes as not long after Viacom demanded that Google-owned YouTube remove more than 100,000 video clips after the two firms failed to reach a distribution deal. Undeterred, YouTube is set to host classic television shows such as "I Spy" and "Gumby" under a deal with Digital Music Group.

The new deal will enable Viacom to recapture viewers who had been going to YouTube without Viacom's blessing to watch content such as Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" and MTV's "Pimp My Ride". Meanwhile Viacom also plans to let people post almost any video from MTV-owned websites on their own blogs and sites.{moscomment}

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