Ric Robertson Taking Paid Summer Hiatus From Movie Academy … 
‘The Big C’ Finale Airs On Showtime Tonight 
Obama Scandals Bring MSNBC 7-Year Low While Fox News Rises 
Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ 
DreamWorks Eyes January For ‘Glimmer’ And Dylan … 
Warner Bros TV & ‘Smallville’ Co-Creators … 
How Many Times Does Seth MacFarlane Have To Say No To The … 
UPFRONTS 2013: TV Spinoffs’ Almost Perfect Year 
OSCARS: Animated Feature Rule Change 
Cannes: Relativity Sets ‘Hunger Games’ Liam … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: Billboard Awards Surge From 2012, … 
Cannes: Park Chan-wook’s ‘Sympathy For Mr. … 
Cannes: Stanley Weiser To Script ‘Three Graves … 
Yahoo CEO Foresees Big Opportunities To Sell Ads On Tumblr 
Disney, Lucasfilm Animation Prep ‘Star Wars … 
Cannes: Deadline Crashes Palais Forum With Costa Gavras, … 
Hammond On Cannes: Sun Comes Out As Parties, Deals And … 
Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X … 
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In … 
Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As … 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower … 
DirecTV has started to offer the services to all of its 20M subscribers while negotiations proceed slowly to resume carriage of the 17 Viacom channels that went dark late Tuesday. DirecTV says it is providing eight Encore premium channels as well as services that had been in extra-pay tiers — including PBS Sprout, The Hub, TV One, and Fuse — as substitutes for Viacom channels such as Nickelodeon, BET, and MTV. (Interestingly, Comcast is a part owner of PBS Sprout and TV One.) The satellite company says that it hopes the replacements will “help offset some of the inconvenience this [dispute] has caused.” But consumers shouldn’t expect a resolution soon. Viacom has made a major buy of radio ad time across all major U.S. cities through Sunday. “Rather than ramp up the propaganda in newspaper ads and radio spots,” DirecTV says, Viacom should “grow up” and help to “get the channels back on the air without an unfair increase to customer bills.” Viacom declined to comment on its radio plans. DirecTV is also said to have bought airtime on five Clear Channel stations tomorrow, with the message to be determined.
Related:
Did Viacom Take Down Its Online Videos To Put Pressure On DirecTV?
DirecTV And Viacom Making “Slow Progress” As Contract Talks Continue
Loading ...
Not missing Viacom channels in the least.
not missing them either. less clutter.
Seems to be most people’s reaction. Viacom has lost their damn minds.
Damn I thought I would be the first to have that sentiment.
Grow up kids and get this settled. Putting these bullshit “replacements” on the air does nothing to mollify angered DIRECT TV subscribers. Soon people will realize what Viacom represents, such as Paramount, CBS etc. and there’ll be backlash. Direct will lose out to DISH (which isn’t any better), cable, AT&T etc. Like Paddy said: people are “mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!”
Although I already get all of those channels as part of my DirecTV tier package, I think it is definitely more compensation for a situation like this than any other provider has ever done before. By providing alternatives that aren’t already accessible by other customers and their tier package, DirecTV is saying that “while we negotiate this matter with Viacom here are alternative channels that offer similar content.” Is the content better than say iCarly or Jersey Shore? The answer is definitely subjective. But it is effort being made to appease the DirecTV customer base.
For me personally, however, when I saw that Viacom channels (not including CBS as you incorrectly noted) were no longer available I had a sudden feeling of loss because for my entire life as a cable watcher (going on 20 years) I’ve always had MTV or Nickelodean (most important of the 17 Viacom channels, apparently). However, I stopped watching them regularly years ago (especially MTV). They’ve been gone for nearly 48 hours and other than missing an episode here or there of something I wanted to watch, I don’t miss them.
Ultimately, I feel that DirecTV should hold their ground! If I don’t want to pay for Viacom channels (as a package for instance), I shouldn’t have to. Therefore, this battle between the two is actually making me support my provider not just because of a possible rate increase to my bill (already at $150 a month w/tax and 3 receivers), but it may end up creating the long desired a la carte programming model where consumers get to pay a set rate (for instance $3 for Viacom channels) for the key channels they want based on the company that owns the channels themselves. Using this method I can pay a set rate for the Disney Media Networks channels (Disney Channel, Disney XD, ESPN, etc), Time Warner (CNN, Cartoon Network, etc) or Viacom (MTV, Nickelodean, TeenNick, etc). If it works for HBO (HBO/Cinemax), Showtime (Showtime, The Movie Channel, FLIX), and Starz (Starz/Encore), why not for the rest of cable? Going further, I can choose to pay for Discover Channels (Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, OWN, etc). Based on the fact that I don’t care for OWN, I wouldn’t have to pay for Discovery channels that I don’t even watch and can save a few bucks.
People don’t know any better. And frankly, most of MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central etc is
a) available online
b) available on netflix
c) garbage
so to think anybody would miss these channels is gross arrogance on viacom’s part.
Plus DirecTV has ALL THE SPORTS, which means they’re not going to lose out to anybody any time soon. especially not over Dauman’s crappy bouquet.
OnLine or netflix is not available to everyone. Some of us live in rural areas where our internet is satellite also and we live with a fair access policy (downloading is limited) and the service is not “high speed”. I personnaly did watch Comedy Central on a daily basis, and it has produced a void.
Just get the AMC and Comedy Central app on the Xbox already so I can say sayanora to DirecTV.
I called Directv today to see what they could do because my family is really missing some of our great shows. They offered $25 in credits over 3 months.
The audience will find new channels and never look back. Very risky game being played by both sides. But Viacom stands to lose more.
This is going to continue throughout all the cable, satellite, and phone companies. Last week it was Dish and AMC this week it’s DIRECTV and Viacom and don’t forget Time Warner Cable and Hearst, Who’s next?
A few years ago Dish customers in the Seattle area had to wait 9 months while the ABC station and Dish hammered out a contract. Nothing is a given any more when it comes to media. You take your chances, and people with a contract there is a clause that says they can change channels. You might sign up thinking you’re getting MTV or AMC but that can change any minute.
Infighting is not what an industry should do when it realizes it has peaked.
Channels not making up for viacom. encore is all old movies. i want a reduced bill!! Plus Via needs to realize as i miss your shows, im gonna move on without them..& not go back after i miss 2 episodes and cant catch up..Just remember that esp mtv vh1 etc
Dish did same thing with AMC so consumers can no longer assume they will get the channelsthey pay for
believe me, people miss these channels. search “viacom” or “directv” on twitter search. people are going nuts and want the channels back.
It’s mostly the Moms who have screaming kids at home (it’s summer, after all) who just lost their “babysitter”.
Or maybe it’s the people that pay $150/month and expect that their entire family be happy with the channel line-up.
Yes Viacom you will get more money out of a business model by making people abandon it for other options.
I hope DirecTV can stick to their guns and finally break this broadcaster nonsense with licensing fees. Perhaps if all cable providers simply said “No”, then companies like Viacom would be forced to sit and negotiate. After all, if no one can see their channels, they’re out of business. Unfortunately, you’ll always have rollover Comcast, who will agree to anything the broadcasters want, then just turn around and raise their rates 2-3 times per year.
I have had DirectTV for the past 20 or so years, I do not want anything else. My parents have Dish and I do not like it. I pay enough for what I have. This is just another big corp getting greedy, and wanting more of the pie. Just, put the shows back on, not that I watch all of them, but a few (Comedy channel, Spike) these we will definately miss. There is no need for Viacom to get greedy. Do what you have to do and get the shows back on the air.
I have had DirectTV for the past 20 or so years, I do not want anything else. My parents have Dish and I do not like it. I pay enough for what I have. This is just another big corp getting greedy, and wanting more of the pie. Just, put the shows back on, not that I watch all of them, but a few (Comedy channel, Spike) these we will definately miss. There is no need for Viacom to get greedy.
I stand behind Directv 100%. Viacom’s channels are garbage for the most part. TV (waste)Land, M(eaningless)TV, Nick (aka The Spongebob Channel). Give me a break. I don’t want to pay an extra penny per month for these channels. Viacom is going to lose much more in ad revenue from the loss of 20 million viewers than Directv will lose, even if a few thousand or 10,000 subs switch to Dish or cable.
Secondly, Viacom is retaliating by shutting off on-line access to their shows for EVERYONE. Bad move Viacom. Brilliant decision to lose even more viewers.
Viacom can go the h-e-double toothpicks for what they turned TV Land into. This was a great channel when it first came on. Now, all you see are time compressed, edited versions of old shows that start and stop at random times.
I have about as much use for the Viacom channels as a submarine has for a screen door.
Had been considering dumping cable and going with DirecTV. Now, no way.
Maybe Directv should just add 18 more Shop at Home stations. I’m sure that will satisfy everyone.
One of the issues that DISH and DirecTV refuse to acknowledge is that some people pay for their services simply because they like only one or two channels. I never watch the Viacom channels but I can accept that some subscribers may watch only these. And they are being unduly punished by this stand off.
Likewise some people watch only sports but some watch none! And how about people who like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” and that’s why they subscribe to DISH. Now they’re out of luck and with a somewhat flip explanation by DISH that not enough people watch these channels so they’ve being removed.
If you basically watch only HBO or Showtime, I’m not sure how you can get them without either satellite or your local cable company.
DirecTV has already proven itself to be a major waste of money. I have been trying to get out of my contract since month 2. Maybe this will finally be the end of this waste of a company. It is over priced garbage. My cable goes out whenever there is a cloud in the sky, “on-demand” takes at least 6 hours to download a one hour show, and now they take away my kids favorite channels???? I hope DirecTV loses in this Viacom argument. They have been a waste of time and money for the past 15 months.
The only Viacom channel that I care for is Comedy Central because I watch South Park but I can watch that online so I think that it’s that big of a deal.
Yes it would be nice to watch those channels on TV but if I can’t so be it.
Viacom channels suck. I suscribe to Comcast- wish they would drop the channels, too.
I feel our bill should have a big discount and u need to add more than just encore