DirecTV and Viacom? Let's make a deal

[ICF]

I won't likely miss many of them.

The Star Wars marathons on Spike are nice, and the kids watch a few shows on Nick....

However...I have Star Wars on blu-ray and the kids watch enough tv as it is, so I think I'll survive.

A 30% increase is a bit much, maybe if they had "only" wanted a 10 - 15% increase a deal would have been reached.

 

[usd2bmd]

Directv posted on their FB page that Viacom forced them to take the channels down while they negotiated. Wonder if they'll ever come back...

 

[tvguy]

Everyone talks about how they want ala carte but are you willing to pony up a huge amount for the channels you do want? Or see the channels you want disappear because not enough people watch them? Trust me, I'd love ala carte channels but I look at it this way, I am paying for you to have your channels in my bundle as you're paying for mine.

Since none of us has been the financial books, I guess we'll never know for sure, but the main reason ala carte won't fly is there are folks like all those shopping channels that pay to have their channel carried. Those would be the first channels I would drop.

It's just like cell phones, they never cut the rates just add stuff I don't need or want. In 1990 I paid $19.95 a month for my cell phone, 25 cents a minute for day time calls and 15 cents a minute at night and my bill for for a month was about $30 for the 35 or so minutes I used. Now I pay $59.95 a month, have useless caller id, useless voice mail, 700 minutes inclued, still use about 35 minutes. Funny, my paycheck is exactly what it was in 1990, but my cell phone bill has tripled.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I don't want to miss Jersey Shore!

I figure since the new season is a long ways off, they will have time to work it out by then.

 

[pat fan]

Huh, I turned my TV on this a.m and never noticed they were off. Guess the channels I watch won't be affected.

The big burning question now is, if we don't have those channels, will DirecTV lower our bill????


Ok, I just went and saw the channel line-up that is leaving. Big whoop. I know some parents will miss Nick for a while, but there are other kid shows out there (Disney channel anyone?) and the rest of them? Don't let the door hit ya in the be-hind on the way out!

 

[Nayan]

I've been watching tweets about this and, well, maybe it's a good thing they took off MTV .

 

[Nayan]

I forgot to mention, there's a new spoof that Viacom is touting done in the way Directv commercials are. It's not kid-friendly (though it does have Spongebob in it) but it is pretty funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL9WtFaju_Q

 

[momof1princess]

yep, got up this morning and the viacom channels are GONE. DH is rather unhappy that he can't watch TVland or Spike (he LOVES those car and truck building shows). i'm going to miss watching M*A*S*H on TVland, but that's about it. DD14 is unhappy that she can't watch iCarly or the penguins of madagascar on nick, but she'll live.

i am seriously considering calling directv to see if they're going to prorate my bill for those channels.

HOLY CRAP!!! i just noticed...I GOT A TAG!!! THANK YOU, TAG FAIRY!

 

[Michigan]

I'm sure when they reach an agreement they will increase the price but will they rebate us for the time we don't have the channels? I doubt it!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I'm sure when they reach an agreement they will increase the price but will they rebate us for the time we don't have the channels? I doubt it!

Call DirecTV and complain. You'll likely get a rebate.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

OK, here's how it went done, as far as I understand:

The DirecTV & Viacom contract expired June 30th.

Viacom believes DirecTV walked away from the table, or something. On July 9th, Viacom starts showing a scroll area on their channel feeds to DirecTV indicating that DirecTV was cutting them off as of midnight on the 10th.

Vaicom sends a cease & desist letter to DirecTV, forcing them to shut down the Viacom channels.

DrecTV starts to scramble to respond via social media.

Rumor is that Viacom wants DirecTV to include their entire package of channels to DirecTV's basic program: That means MTV 2, MTV Jams, Palladia, BET Gospel, etc., etc.

Whose going to win? I can't say. It's a game of chicken, really. Whose going to fold first? Viacom and DirecTV are both trying to make it look like the other person is the bad guy. I think it's going to depend on who wins the social media war.

 

[sam_gordon]

i am seriously considering calling directv to see if they're going to prorate my bill for those channels.

I bet if you look through your DirecTV agreement, they can change programming whenever they want.

They MIGHT reduce your bill (I've heard Dish offered customers $10/month off for a year when they pulled AMC), but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Colleen27]

Rumor is that Viacom wants DirecTV to include their entire package of channels to DirecTV's basic program: That means MTV 2, MTV Jams, Palladia, BET Gospel, etc., etc.

And that seems to be how the game is played right now... The media companies want all-or-nothing so that people are stuck paying for very niche channels that few ever watch (LOGO anyone? A channel designed for a demographic that by most estimates accounts for <10% of the population). They want the fact that we're hooked on Nick or MTV to subsidize the dozen or so channels in their lineup that we've never heard of, and that's ridiculous. It is like saying you can't get the Detroit Free Press unless you also subscribe to the Tennessean, USA Today, the Indianapolis Star, and the Arizona Republic.

If their niche channels can't attract an audience willing to upgrade their package Viacom needs to rethink that programming, not attempt to use the few popular stations they have to strong-arm carriers by extension their subscribers into paying for programming they don't want and won't watch.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

And now Viacom has 20 million less viewers and McDonalds, Hasbro, GoGurt, etc. have 20 million less children saying "I want that!"

It's a game of chicken and I wonder who's wallet will break first.

 

[ICF]

I'd guess Viacom needs DTV a lot more than DTV needs Viacom. Advertisers that paid $$ to be seen by X # of people aren't going to be happy they they just lost a potentially large # of people for those ads. They are likley going to want refunds of price they paid to run their ads, or will start to take them other places if this drags on.

At the end of the day, many people are in a contract with DTV and unless they want to pay the ETF's aren't going to be able to just leave. DTV can spin it as trying to keep your costs low in this tough economy. Viacom can say DTV is being tight with the $'s, but most people are going to miss very few (if any) of these channels and don't want to see their bill raised due to these channels.

Even people that may want to leave, could well end up likely finding other favorite channels missing from various providers. Dish just dropped AMC and other channels they own. NFLST & MLBEI aren't offered by Dish or UVerse - so if you like those sports pacakges you can't go to either of them.

 

[Nayan]

To the PP, I get what you're saying but there's folks like me who really do enjoy the different programming of niche channels. For instance, I love Ovation (I see y'all scratching your head going "Ovation? What's that?"). It's an artsy-fartsy channel with opera, ballet, etc. I like because it's different. I can't stand Bravo, with the not-so-real Real Housewives and other ridiculous programming but it is popular. So would it be fair for the niche channels to go away? Here's an interesting chart on how much each channel is worth and although it's from 2009 it's still a glimpse into what each one costs. Guess who's on top:

http://allthingsd.com/20100308/hate-paying-for-cable-heres-the-reason-why/

 

[rgf207]

DirecTV is giving a $5 per month credit for the next 3 months. You need to call them though

 

[Coconut36]

DirecTV is giving a $5 per month credit for the next 3 months. You need to call them though

Good to know.

My kids were TICKED this morning to find their beloved Nick Jr gone. If I hear from my 5 year old "When will this be back" I am going to scream!

 

[Planogirl]

I hope that they work it out. I know that these squabbles are usually resolved quickly but us Dish subscribers see no end to the AMC (not A&E - luckily we still have them!) dispute so you never know.

 

[sam_gordon]

I hope that they work it out. I know that these squabbles are usually resolved quickly but us Dish subscribers see no end to the AMC (not A&E - luckily we still have them!) dispute so you never know.

I think DirecTV/Viacom will get more play because of the popularity of Nick vs. the popularity of AMC.

Playing devils advocate... who's going to pay extra for the "niche" channels unless you already know what's going to be on them? Maybe the way Viacom (and other future networks) should negotiate is to get Sat/Cable providers to offer the "lower rung" channels as free previews every six months or something.
That could get people to experiment with the channels, hopefully like them, THEN be willing to pay more for the programming in a higher tier.