Author Archives: Allison Lips
Viacom Stops Free Streaming of Its Shows
The fight between Viacom and DirecTV has officially affected everyone. Since DirecTV decided to direct their customers who want to watch Viacom shows to their corresponding websites, Viacom has decided to pull full episodes of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, SpongeBob Squarepants, iCarly, Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, and more. However, full episodes do remain on Hulu.
Viacom Channels Go Dark on DirecTV
Last night at midnight, 20 million DirecTV subscribers lost 17 different Viacom channels. The channels lost include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and more.
DirecTV and Viacom conflict of carriage fees continues. DirecTV says Viacom wants a 30 percent increase in fees, which comes out to an additional $1 billion. Viacom’s Vice President for Corporate Communications Mark Jafar wrote on his company’s blog that the increase amounts to “a couple pennies per day, per subscriber”, that DirecTV has been paying “the same bargain rate” for Viacom programming for 7 years, and that Viacom “accounts for 20% of all viewing on DirecTV.”
USA Today reports that DirecTV subscribers who tune into Viacom channels will now see a “mix” channel of programming from other networks, such as Bravo, FX, and TBS. DirecTV is also making eight Encore movie channels, which are usually part of premium packages, available for free to all of its customers until July 31.
For more on DirecTV’s side of the argument, check out directvpromise. More on Viacom’s view can be found on the company’s blog and whendirecttvdrops.
Cool TV Video of the Day: NBC’s Loud and Proud!
Back in the 80s and very early 90s, the Big 3 created catchy songs to go along with their fall schedules. In the early 80s, NBC fortunes were much like they are today: not very good. Instead of complaining about it, they decided to get self-deprecating about it in house. NBC took their “We’re Proud” jingle and had the same ad agency, same production staff, and same performers as the original promo and spoofed their own song.
Here is the spoof (Complete with someone on YouTube replacing the original “We’re Loud” with “We’re Proud.”):
The original is after the jump.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Letterman Introduces the GE Handshake
In the 80s, David Letterman used to host Late Night on NBC. Naturally when GE bought NBC from RCA, Letterman would want to “drop in and say hello,” complete with a fruit basket. However, Dave has trouble even entering the building. You will see the infamous GE Handshake and the rest of the hilarious results in today’s video.
Viacom Channels Could Go Dark On DirecTV
DirecTV is currently fighting with Viacom over their carriage agreements. If a settlement is not reached by tonight, 20 million DirecTV subscribers will lose 26 (including SD and HD) Viacom channels.
The 17 networks affected (without their corresponding HD channels) are:
- Palladia
- Centric
- Tr3s
- CMT
- Logo
- NickToons
- VH1 Classic
- TeenNick
- Nick Jr.
- Nick@Nite
- Spike
- BET
- VH1
- TV Land
- Comedy Central
- Nickelodeon
- MTV
For DirecTV’s side of the argument, check out directvpromise. Viacom’s view can be found on the company’s blog and whendirecttvdrops.
Weekly TV Update: July 9
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Ernest Borgnine dies at 95. Before his death, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Borgnine about his 32 day marriage and his recurring role on Spongebob.
CBS and the cast of Happy Days reach an out of court settlement. The cast, minus Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, were suing because CBS was using their images in merchandising without paying royalties.
Adam Lambert may become the newest judge on American Idol.
Demi Lovato will host the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.
Kelly Ripa May Finally Be Getting a Permanent Co-Host
We’ve mentioned before that ABC has been procrastinating in picking a new co-host for Kelly Ripa on Live!. However, it looks like they are finally looking for a serious replacement for Regis Philbin. Showbiz 411 reports that ABC has revealed the short list for Ripa’s new co-host. The finalists for the position are Seth Meyers from “Saturday Night Live,” former football player Michael Strahan, and singer Josh Groban.
Foreign Friday: Cheating at Grab a Grand
Every Friday, I post a clip from an English speaking country other than the United States.
This weeks clip comes from Noel’s House Party. I’ve mentioned the show before. It’s one those shows that isn’t good, but I can’t look away because it’s so ridiculous. In the United States, Noel’s House Party would be relegated to Nickelodeon. To an American, this show looks like it took something meant for kids and pretended it was for adults. The show aired on Saturday nights on the BBC for 8 years in the 90s.
In this video, snooker player John Parrot brilliantly cheats at Grab A Grand. You’ve probably seen the same game on Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show under a different name. Grab A Grand puts a contestant into a rectangular box with money flying around and they have to grab as much money as possible in a short period of time.
I wish I would have though of that. Parrot’s solution is so simple and obvious, yet I would have never thought of it.
Wait! What's A Dial? 