viacom

MTV, Comedy Central, other Viacom channels go dark for DirecTV

DirecTV and Viacom failed to reach a new deal on programming fees, resulting in a blackout of many popular cable networks, including MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.

The blackout is the result of the latest dispute between entertainment companies and the distributors, which include cable, telecom, and satellite TV providers. There have been an increasing amount of disagreements over how much distributors have to pay to carry the various networks, resulting in public spats such as this.

Viacom confirmed the blackout on its blog earlier today.

"We are deeply disappointed that DirecTV dropped Viacom's channels before our midnight … Read more

DirecTV-Viacom spat may black out top cable channels today

DirecTV customers may soon need to get their "Jersey Shore" and "Daily Show" fix elsewhere.

A dispute over terms of a new distribution agreement between DirecTV and Viacom, which operates channels such as MTV and Comedy Central, could leave millions of satellite-TV customers without their favorite cable channels if a deal isn't struck by midnight tonight.

DirecTV has rejected all of Viacom's proposal, and has proposed an offer that is below the industry rate, Viacom said in a blog post late yesterday.

DirecTV said the companies continue to talk. It also create a site … Read more

Google wins YouTube copyright battle in French court

Reversing the trend of recent court upsets for the Web giant, Google had a notable success in French Court today. Siding with Google in its battle against French broadcaster TF1, the court ruled that the Internet company is not liable for filtering out pirated content on YouTube, according to Reuters.

The French media company brought the case against Google alleging that copyrighted sports and movies were easily accessible on YouTube, according to Reuters.

In this case, TF1 sought more than $176 million (141 million euros) in damages, but the French court ended up ordering the broadcaster to instead pay Google'… Read more

Amazon Prime acquires access to Paramount films

Thanks to a new agreement with Paramount Pictures, subscribers of Amazon's Prime service will now get access to "hundreds" of films, including "Mission: Impossible 3," "Braveheart" and "Mean Girls."

Sure, these are catalog titles that are long in the tooth and many of them have been in Netflix's library for some time. But the point is that Amazon continues to close the gap in regards to the amount and quality of films offered by Netflix, the top video-rental service on the Web.

Amazon Prime is a membership program that costs $… Read more

Viacom channels back on Time Warner iPad app

Users of the Time Warner Cable iPad app will be able to tune into a host of Viacom programs thanks to a resolution in the legal skirmish between the two media companies.

The "happy ending" to the litigation between the two was announced yesterday on a Viacom blog, which called it good news for consumers. Time Warner Cable users will be able to grab such Viacom programs as "Jersey Shore" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" via Time Warner's iPad app.

Subscribers will also get access to other on-air channels from Viacom, … Read more

Viacom wins second round of copyright battle against YouTube

Viacom has won an appeal in its copyright lawsuit against Google's YouTube, according to court documents.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to a lower court to determine whether YouTube purposely ignored the infringing material that was posted to the site.

The decision is a setback for technology companies. It negates an earlier decision that set a favorable precedent about responsibility for policing Web sites. But today's decision only requires YouTube to defend itself in a lower court against the charges that it had prior knowledge of copyright infringement on its site. … Read more

Paramount to rent movies via YouTube, Google Play

Paramount has agreed to give YouTube and Google Play access to 500 movies for rental, the companies announced today.

What's that you say? Haven't their parent companies fought one of the Web's nastiest copyright battles for the last five years? Viacom sued Google and YouTube in 2007 alleging that they encouraged users to pirate Viacom's TV shows and films. YouTube won the first round in federal district court but Viacom has appealed.

Viacom has actually done business with Google for years, and some of the company's content has been available on Android and YouTube for … Read more

Amazon reels in more video streaming content

Path takes a wrong turn, Yahoo's board gets new faces, and Amazon Instant Video adds Viacom content.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon adds Viacom shows, expands streaming selection

Look out Netflix. While you're worried about HBO, Amazon's building up its streaming library.

Amazon announced today it has signed a licensing agreement with Viacom that will bring the entertainment conglomerate's shows to Amazon's Prime video service. Over the next several months, Amazon will receive access to episodes from Viacom's Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and BET outlets, the company said in a statement.

"This deal will bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 15,000," Amazon wrote.

This hits Netflix where it hurts. Amazon continues to build up the … Read more

Amazon, Viacom reportedly near Web video deal

Just over a week ago, industry sources revealed that Amazon might expand its current member-based instant video plan and launch a standalone, subscription-based video streaming service, much like Netflix's.

Today, Reuters reports that Amazon has moved one step closer toward launching this service and is on the verge of announcing a Web video deal with Viacom. The deal could be revealed this week, according to Reuters.

If the deal goes through, the partnership could stiffen competition with Netflix, which is being hit from all sides. Just this week, news broke that HBO is investing $10 million in Australia's Quickflix, … Read more