Viacom Licenses Joost

IN A SIGN that Viacom understands the need to stay front-and-centre in the pop culture feeding chain, Viacom signed a deal to license its programming content to Joost. This means Viacom can continue to issue take-down orders to YouTube without worrying about offending members of an online audience. The arrangement should bring television and theatrical content from Viacom's brands--which include MTV Networks' Comedy Central, as well as Black Entertainment Television and Paramount Pictures--to the Joost software upon its full launch.

For those who have not tried Joost, it offers a customizable experience for viewers. It's a model for rich media that works for content owners because they have an easier way to reach more viewers and collect more advertising revenue.

But Joost lacks the social networking side of YouTube, where user views and user favourites count. The world needs a YouTube social network and the content makers need to have some revenue flow for their video productions.

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Caroline McCarthy -- "Viacom, Joost strike content licensing deal"