Joost - it's an odd word, but it's been on practically every media maven's lips since the peer-to-peer online TV platform launched its first beta version in January. Now, having launched commercially on May 2 with 32 brands on board, the company is setting its sights not only on reinventing TV, but possibly advertising as well.

With programming varying geographically according to copyright, brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, HP and Intel are advertising globally through the fledgling "broadcaster". Others such as Microsoft, Visa and General Motors are testing the waters for different markets. As a result, what's being promoted as "the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service" is taking significant strides towards becoming a major media platform.

Co-founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström (the minds behind Skype and Kazaa), the project has come a long way since its shadowy beginnings in 2006, when a global team of developers started work on a top-secret venture known as The Venice Project. After offering the service to a select group of beta testers (including Boards), the Joost team struck content and advertising deals behind the scenes, while ramping up the quality of its offering. Among the steadily growing list of content partners for its 150 channels are Viacom (providing select programming from MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central among others), Turner Broadcasting System, CBS and Warner Brothers.

Preferring old-fashioned word of mouth to a major media blitz, Joost quietly lifted the veil by giving beta testers unlimited invites to send to potential users. According to David Clark, Joost's EVP of global advertising, as of mid-May, there were 550,000 registered Joost users. Not bad, considering the project is still officially in beta mode.

But how will brands reach those users? Clark maintains that television advertising is still "the most powerful option that exists". But he asserts that the consumer/advertiser relationship, as it's been expressed through TV, is "broken and needs to be renegotiated. Having 45 minutes of free content in exchange for 15 minutes of your attention that's divided up between 30 advertisers - that deal is off now."

So what's the new deal? That's the million-dollar question, or more appropriately, the $45-million question. That's how much Joost has raised thus far from five venture capital firms and content owners, including Sequoia Capital (a VC firm that also invested in YouTube), CBS Corporation and Viacom. Those investments, coupled with a recently announced partnership with the Creative Artists Agency to secure more content, are bolstering Joost's legitimacy to potential users, and advertisers as well.

Currently, Joost allows only one advertiser per program, with a five-second "presented by" blip and a :30 spot running mid roll. Interactive elements, such as digital overlays and graphic ad bugs that pop up intermittently during programming, offer links to the advertiser's website or other filmed material. Other advertisers are exploring branded content and channel sponsorship: Red Bull has its own channel with more to be announced soon.