Joost, a video streaming start up long the lines of YouTube, may be poised for rapid growth. Frustrated with YouTube's lack of attention to copyright, media giant Viacom has signed a deal with Joost to host Viacom's extensive catalogue of music and TV shows (including MTV, among others). It is not so much the redistribution of copyrighted material that has been bugging Viacom--instead, the company just wants its fair share of the ad revenue.
According to the article, Viacom will get something like 2/3 of the ad revenue that Joost receives for streaming Viacom programs.
The Viacom/Joost deal is likely to be an interesting experiment. Unlike YouTube, which has thrived on one and two minute video clips contributed by all sorts of people, Joost is trying to position itself more as an online TV station, with much more focus on full length shows. So if you missed your favorite Viacom show on the the old-fashioned cable or satellite system, you can simply watch the whole thing on Joost anytime, as opposed to seeing one or two short clips on YouTube that someone essentiall bootlegged.
For communities, the Joost experiment is just another signal that video is going to continue driving bandwidth needs up faster and faster, and the communities that invest in community-managed digital road systems are going to be very attractive places to live and to work.