Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen: Joost Edition
Last summer, Joost was the hottest thing going. Finally, real TV on the Internet. The traditional networks couldn't stop praising it (the first frantically waving red flag). Joost was going to steamroll sleazy and maligned YouTube …
Context & Ripple Effects
Joost spent mid-2007 as the most-hyped property in online video: TechCrunch argued that embedding Joost would change the market, and the service finally launched in October 2007 with CEO Mike Volpi fronting the rollout. But the glow faded fast — by mid-October TechCrunch was warning that the clock was ticking for Joost, while rival Veoh pushed its own web-as-TV vision.
This week the story turned from trajectory to survival: Joost's CTO has departed, an exit that began amicably and ended in a firing, and commentary is openly asking whether the company is headed for the deadpool. The syndication of the same obituary-ish read across outlets on the same day suggests the narrative has hardened.
First-order effects
- Joost loses its top technology executive at the exact moment its product thesis is under attack, and the amicable-turned-firing framing makes retention of other senior staff harder.
- The deadpool chatter, still unconfirmed as fact, becomes a self-reinforcing problem for Joost's negotiations with the traditional networks whose content exclusivity was its core differentiator over YouTube.
Second-order effects
- Veoh, which spent 2007 building its own TV-on-the-web client, is positioned to inherit the 'real TV on the Internet' mantle and the network relationships Joost can no longer credibly promise to serve.
- Networks that praised Joost last summer now have leverage to demand better terms or shop their catalogues more widely, since the scarcity value of a Joost deal has collapsed.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 2007's closed, client-download model for internet television gives way to browser-embedded and open distribution — the very direction TechCrunch flagged when it argued embedding would decide the market.
- Usage data already pointed this way: workers watching YouTube at their desks made noon the new prime time, favoring short-form, frictionless video over appointment-style TV clients regardless of which startup wins.
The trend: The 2007 online-video land grab is entering its consolidation phase, with closed client-based 'TV on the web' platforms losing to open, embeddable video even as premium network content remains up for grabs.