CBS News has chosen video site Ustream as its streaming video provider, Ustream founder Brad Hunstable said today:

“[W]e are announcing the CBSNews.com channel on Ustream, which features breaking news coverage several times everyday– presidential press conferences, Congressional hearings, and online-only content and on-air programs such as the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. We’re excited about delivering this live breaking news.”

Ustream.TV is a “live, interactive video broadcast platform” that incorporates viewer text chat into the content creator’s live video stream. The company was originally founded in 2006 as way to help overseas soldiers connect with their families. Channels run the gamut from politics and famous musicians, to a very popular channel featuring a litter of agonizingly cute Shiba Inu puppies.

Ustream is working to distinguish itself from the pack of DIY/streaming video sites, which includes Bambuser and Mogulus (recently rechristened Livestream), and perhaps take a bite out of Hulu.com‘s dominance over the  streamed network television business.

CBS, similarly, is striving to find its streaming-online-video niche, being the only one of the four “big” TV networks to *not* be a partner in Hulu.

Even Hulu is trying to carve a bigger piece of the online video-watching pie. Just last week, they debuted a “desktop” feature for a more tv-like viewing experience, and added improved recommendations and date-specific video search.

The CBS News Ustream channel can be found at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cbs-news. The channel will also livestream “behind the scenes live news coverage.”