TORONTO (CP) - To many viewers, the idea of being home and settled on the couch in time to catch hit shows like ``Grey's Anatomy'' or ``Lost'' has become as old-fashioned as rabbit ears or a black-and-white TV set.
After all, the advent of TiVo and PVR has already allowed cable TV viewers to watch what they want, when they want. But who needs cable?
Many shows can also be watched online, a process that is rapidly getting easier with help from services like web-based Joost, which is still in the testing phase.
Joost has been in the process of signing content deals with major TV networks, including Viacom in the U.S.
On Wednesday it announced an agreement with Canada's CHUM television for programming from MuchMusic Space and Fashion Television. Last month it signed a deal with JumpTV, a Canadian video site that distributes ethnic channels.
``The audience would like to have more flexibility and choices, and be able to search for content and create your own programming channels .
.. (and) have a lot more freedom around how you are actually watching,'' said Yvette Alberdingkthijm, who's responsible for content acquisition at Joost.
Like video-sharing sites YouTube.com or QuickSilverScreen.com, Joost will allow viewers to search for and then watch TV programs for free online.
Alberdingkthijm said more than 400,000 people have so far volunteered to become testers for the service, which uses peer-to-peer technology.
The software will be available as a free download and the site will post short commercials. It's expected to launch some time this year.
Many networks already offer streaming of video on their websites, but they may have a hard time competing with peer-to-peer video sites. While networks have to provide their own servers to stream content, peer-to-peer technology allows sites like Joost and Bit Torrent to share the load over all their users, allowing for unlimited capacity.
CTV, which already delivers content using its website, says it is ``aware of the Joost model,'' adding it's ``one example of the kind of partners'' they are currently evaluating.
But other broadcasters like CHUM say they're jumping in with both feet because the Joost type of service adds another dimension to what they're already doing.
TV has learned from the music industry, which was hit hard by the explosion of peer-to-peer file sharing, says Roma Khanna, CHUM's senior vice-president of content.
``If we don't do something innovative, then someone else is going do it out from under us,'' she said.
``We don't want that to happen. We want to be there.''
Already, a slew of illegal sites allow people to stream or download shows and movies.
Broadcasters like CHUM say it doesn't make business sense to ignore the way young viewers like to watch TV.
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