Category Archives: DirecTV
Tribune Stations Go Dark on Cablevision
Last night at midnight, four Tribune Broadcasting stations, two My Network affiliates and two CW affiliates, went dark for Cablevision customers because of a disagreement on retransmission consent fees. The affected stations are WPIX in New York, WPHL in Philadelphia, KWGN in Denver, and WCCT in Connecticut.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cablevision says, “The bankrupt Tribune Co. and the hedge funds and banks that own it, including Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co. and others, are trying to solve Tribune’s financial problems on the backs of Cablevision customers. Tribune and their hedge fund owners are demanding tens of millions in new fees for WPIX and other stations they own. They should stop their anti-consumer demands and work productively to reach an agreement.”
DirecTV and Viacom Reach an Agreement
DirecTV customers will get back the 17 Viacom channels that they lost during the 10-day standoff between the two companies. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, the deal gives DirecTV subscribers the ability to see Viacom programming on various electronic devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. It also includes an option for DirecTV to carry Viacom’s premium movie channel EPIX.
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.
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.
Wait! What's A Dial? 