Joost was at one point cited as the next big thing, the future of Web television, the application that will take the industry in to the mainstream.
But not any longer. In fact, over the last few months, Joost has roundly criticised and had its aspirations kicked by lots of better placed competitors.
Hulu On Top
NBC’s Hulu has well and truly taken the mantle, offering Web based television viewing without the need for any software downloads, and offering a much more mainstream selection of programmes.
In January, I wrote a piece asking if Joost would actually last the year, as the doom merchants were out in force predicting an early demise for the service.
Maybe Joost have taken some of the criticisms levelled at them on board, as it now seems they are about to embark on a major restructuring of the company.
Joost Restructure
According to The Times, Joost is going to forget its long held global ambition (it is called the World Wide Web after all) to focus solely on the US market.
This makes sense, as not only is Hulu doing very well with the same strategy, global rights are very hard to secure, and have been a definite stumbling block for Joost to live up to expectations.
But as a Brit, living in the UK, I see it as a backward step. I have the BBC iPlayer, which is doing very well, but I’m a huge fan of some American shows, and I’m meant to sit back and be content that there’ll never be available to view over the Web for free?
Money In The Bank
Joost is also said to be realigning staff to better fit needs. That doesn’t mean anyone is being fired however, as the company claim to still have the majority of the $50 million raised last year from investors.
As part of the restructure, I suggest the company make a Web based version of the service a priority, as I maintain that would have the biggest effect on viewer numbers at this moment in time.
