Viacom gets greedy...

[R3P0]

For those with DirecTV and kids im posting this here for you

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 10, 2012 – DIRECTV customers were left without Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 14 other channels today, after Viacom dropped its networks from DIRECTV at approximately midnight EDT. DIRECTV executives reached out to Viacom both yesterday and today with a new proposal and a request to keep the channels on while we continued to negotiate, but never heard back, so DIRECTV had to comply with their demand to take the channels down or face legal action.

“We have been very willing to get a deal done, but Viacom is pushing DIRECTV customers to pay more than a 30 percent increase, which equates to an extra $1 billion, despite the fact that the ratings for many of their main networks have plummeted and much of Viacom’s programming can be seen for free online,” said Derek Chang, DIRECTV executive vice president of Content, Strategy and Development. “Viacom sent us a letter last night that outlined our obligations to remove the channels by midnight or face legal action just as they were falsely telling viewers DIRECTV was responsible. Let’s be clear, Viacom took these channels away from DIRECTV viewers.”

On its Website http://www.directvpromise.com, an information resource for customers affected by programming disputes, DIRECTV pointed out that Viacom is demanding an exorbitant increase for many Viacom channels that customers may never watch. DIRECTV stated that if Viacom believes all of its networks are worth so much extra money, DIRECTV customers should have the right to choose which Viacom channels they want to pay to keep and which ones they don’t.

“We have absolutely no problem compensating Viacom fairly, but they have now knowingly put our customers in the unreasonable position of either accepting their extravagant financial demands or losing some of their favorite TV shows,” said Chang. “We feel our customers should not have to pay more for these networks than the customers of any other TV provider. We reiterated this to Viacom today and have not heard back from them.”

“We understand that Viacom’s actions are inconveniencing our customers so we are doing everything we can to help them find alternative programming until this gets resolved,” Chang added. “Customers will now see a variety of replacement channels available to them on one screen, in a Mix Channel format, when they tune to a Viacom channel. For instance, those going to the

Nickelodeon channel slot will see alternative choices for children’s programming such as The Disney Channel, ABC Family, Cartoon Network, PBS Sprout, The Hub and Boomerang. Customers can also see full-length Viacom episodes for free by going to http://www.directvpromise.com and clicking on the ‘Other Ways to Watch’ tab.”

[LynxFX]

Same shit, different day. They (Cable, Satellite, Studios) do this every time their contracts come up for renewal and it is the exact same argument.

Both are in the wrong. I just watched the video on directvpromise.com and talk about the kettle calling the pot black. "Viacom wants you to pay for channels you might not even watch or care about." Umm, hello!?? That is exactly what you (DirecTV, Cable etc) do too. I would love an ala carte selection of channels. I would probably only have 10 or so instead of 150. But you no, you force me to pay. This is a combination of your greed and the Studio's greed.

I became unplugged last month and honestly don't miss it. I stream shows I really need to see, or just watch OTA if I want some background noise. The rest can wait for Netflix or Amazon streaming.

[arcadeforest]

Outside of Nick for the kids I could really care less about having any of those channels. With Netflix and the theater pc I've got hooked up its really almost has become redundant. If it wasn't for the wife and kids I probably would drop pay tv (satellite) all together but the convience help them when they want to watch something.

[onyxbfly]

If it wasn't for my fiancee I would never get cable. Everything you need is on the net in some shape form or fashion. There are only a handful of channels worth watching. Yet you have to pay for packages which include channels you never heard of.

[R3P0]

I used to work for a cable company so im familiar with how these negotiations go, Most cable/satellite companies have begged for the ability to be able to allow ala cart purchases. DirecTV is doing this now as they know of the 16 channels turned off maybe 8 of them are worth having. Unfortunately the provider in this case Viacom tells them sorry it is an all or nothing approach. This is the way these networks get most of the BS channels we don't want into the packages. In a way these networks are double dipping, they make money off the commercials that air, then on top of that they make money off of the product negotiations. This is why our bills keep going so high, keep in mind for all that switch to netflix it is only a temporary solution as when those companies go to renegotiate the owners of that content will just do the same to Netflix/Hulu etc.

[fatediesel]

Viacom has taken down their recent content from their websites.

The takedown, which was first spotted by BTIG’s Richard Greenfield, seems to affect a wide range of content: Clips and older long-form episodes are still available but most current or new full episodes aren’t being offered at Comedycentral.com, MTV.com or the other network sites. “We still have hundreds of long-form episodes remain online, for free, but we have temporarily slimmed down our offerings as DirecTV markets them as an alternative to having our networks,” Viacom spokesman Carl Folta explained during a phone conversation; more than 4,500 episodes are still up, he told us after checking. Folta also said Hulu and other partners who pay Viacom for its programming will continue to get it and be able to serve it up as usual.

Viacom's stupidity amazes me. For one people are still going to be able to get their content on Hulu (or illegally through torrents) so it's not like they are preventing people from getting it, they now will just bypass Viacom's sites. This also is going to lead to more people taking DirecTV's side in the dispute.

Also, just for curiosity's sake I went to Comedy Central's site and when I got to the page a full screen commercial came up about DirecTV dropping Viacom's channels. It was about 30 seconds long and there was no way to close the commercial or mute it. People that go to Viacom's sites aren't going to want to see forced commercials about a carriage dispute.