Wi-fi TV shows on iPhone give Joost a boost

LOS ANGELES -- Web video service Joost is looking to the iPhone for a big comeback.

Joost was one of the first services to take the idea of watching TV shows online. But after launching last year to much fanfare, it was eclipsed by newer sites such as Hulu and Veoh.

Earlier this month, however, Joost got a head start on its competitors with a free iPhone application that lets you watch TV shows from CBS, Comedy Central, Warner Bros. and Sony at no charge over a Wi-Fi connection.

It is already one of the most popular iPhone applications. Joost CEO Mike Volpi hopes it will encourage folks to take a second look.

"Ten million people have iPhones," says Volpi, on a recent trip to Hollywood to meet with networks about working with Joost. "We want to give them an application where they can get to know us, and hopefully get them back to our website."

James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, says Apple's iPhone is Joost's ticket from oblivion. "The only way to get a lot of licensed content on the iPhone now is to buy it at iTunes," he says.

Apple sells TV shows at iTunes from the major networks for 99 cents and up. The company says it has sold more than 200 million TV episodes in the past two years.

Still, the future for digital TV viewing isn't in such paid downloads but in the kind of experience we've been accustomed to since the 1950s — advertiser supported, McQuivey says.

"Just look at the numbers," he says.

According to market tracker ComScore Media Metrix, Hulu, which launched publicly in March, showed 200 million videos in October, or as many shows in one month as Apple has sold in two years, he notes.

For now, Joost has a good ways to go to catch up to competitors. It showed only 272,000 videos in October, according to ComScore.

However, Joost is on the upswing. It saw 564,000 visitors in November — up from just under 100,000 in July, market tracker Quantcast says.

McQuivey is so bullish on folks watching TV shows with commercials online that even in the economic downturn, Forrester projects $900 million in video advertising on sites such as Hulu and Veoh this year, growing to $1.7 billion next year.