Joost announces new content deals, opens service

Joost announced on Monday several deals to offer entertainment, sports and CNN news shows through the internet television service.

The broadcast-quality online offering by Netherlands-based Baaima NV will make movies, comedy, drama, sports, lifestyle, news and documentary, and animated shows available on Thursday to people testing the service.

Joost latest five partners are:

• Turner Broadcasting System, which will supply animated shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken, and later CNN news and talk shows, and documentaries including Anderson Cooper 360 and Larry King Live. CNN's online newsfeed has been added to Joost's news ticker.
• Sony Pictures Television, which will offer shows from the 1970s through the 1990s, including Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Who's the Boss? and NewsRadio.
• Sports Illustrated, which will supply video from its swimsuit photoshoot, interviews with models and behind-the-scenes footage.
• The National Hockey League, which will serve up games from the NHL archives, with regular-season highlights, replays and playoff games to come.
• Hasbro, which will offer episodes of its animated television shows from the 1980s, G.I. Joe and The Transformers.

Channel and program availability will be determined on a geographic basis.

Joost also said commercials from 32 advertising partners announced in April including Coca-Cola, HP, Intel and Nike will start airing through the service later in May.

The service announced that existing users who are involved in Joost's test or beta trial will now be able to invite anyone they know to join the online community and try the service. Beta testers were previously offered a limited number of invitations to send out.

Joost was created by the founders of the Kazaa file-sharing service and the Skype internet phone service, Niklas Zennstrom and Jannus Friis.