Time Warner Cable Looking to Get Joost?

UPDATED: Interesting rumor of the day: Time Warner Cable is reportedly in talks to acquire Internet-video aggregator Joost, according to CNET.

Joost launched in early 2007, ginning up some incredible buzz in tech circles as a forerunner in the brave new world of Internet TV.

Since then, however, Joost has seen its core peer-to-peer strategy flop — not enough people wanted to download and install its proprietary app. It’s become an online-video also-ran, overtaken by other sites offering free premium content, most notably NBCU-News Corp. wunderkind Hulu.

Now, CNET reports, the low-flying startup is looking for the exit by shopping itself to cable and satellite operators.

[UPDATE: However, while Time Warner Cable is interested in Joost, an acquisition is “unlikely,” according an anonymous source cited by The Financial Times.]

For TWC, snapping up Joost would give it quick entree into Internet TV world, with a decent user interface and (probably) the option to pick up some smart Web types who’ve been doing online video for a few years. (See Time Warner Cable’s Stern: ‘TV Everywhere’ Must Be Easy, Scalable.)

But here’s a wrinkle: One of Joost’s investors is Viacom, which this past New Year’s Eve locked horns with TWC over carriage fees. (See Viacom, Time Warner Cable Reach Tentative Deal and Joost Raises $45M from Viacom, CBS, Others.) Indeed, Time Warner Cable specifically called out Viacom’s promiscuous online video distribution as a sore spot, given that the programmer was demanding higher per-sub fees.

Water under the bridge?