Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Viacom and DishNetwork Battle On Air Over Contract

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the this-is-just-bizarre dept.

An anonymous reader writes "This weekend, Viacom stations began scrolling messages on their cable stations(MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, etc) stating that DishNetwork may soon be removing the channels from its lineup and urging subscribers to call DishNetwork. DishNetwork subscribers(me!) may have begun to see black bars cover the messages and calls to DishNetwork regarding the messages were greeted with a recording telling subscribers to call the President and GM of KCBS. These antics stem from lawsuits here. I, for one, will be switching to DirecTV if they don't get this figured out."

25 of 604 comments (clear)

  1. Viacom really needs to watch themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They currently own two broadcast networks (CBS and UPN), and abuse of their holdings like this to bully a carrier like this will get them in hot water with not only the FCC, but the FTC as well.

    1. Re:Viacom really needs to watch themselves by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And let's not forget their own investors.

      Dish Network holds about 8% of the TV audience. What that means is that there will be an instant drop in the audience by 8% on all of the affected stations.

      Viacom does not own any distribution arms other than OTA TV stations. Their entire cable empire stands at risk if they can't make deals with outside distributors. Viacom needs Dish more than Dish needs Viacom.

    2. Re:Viacom really needs to watch themselves by swordboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It should be noted that Viacom are the ones putting the scoll bar on those channels - they are appearing to EVERYONE watching from any provider. The irony is that they are plumbing them through Dishnetwork's own system. Some cool stuff is here.

      Pick up the phone and call Don Corsini and let him know how you feel.

      The summary: Dishnetwork has the lowest cost programming in the US. They'd like to keep it that way so they are dropping these channels from their basic package. They will allow people to add them if the cost is deemed worth while on a per-user basis. This is good for the consumer and good for the free market because Viacom will learn that they can't just raise their prices arbitrarily and still keep their seat in the basic package.

      Fuck Viacom

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    3. Re:Viacom really needs to watch themselves by macshune · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's the same thing in the cable world. Most of the rate-rises on your cable bill aren't from increased "costs" of distribution or just the cable company wanting to raise prices. It's because the channel-owners charge cable companies money per household that receives the channel. This is why we are beginning to see a move by industry giants like Comcast to purchase content, rather than just be content with their distribution system. They did just try to buy disney and they own the golf channel, among others:)

      Also, at least in the cable world, the cable companies puts the commercials in. Dish probably injects the commercials too, so Viacom only makes dough off of the fees it charges Dish Network.

    4. Re:Viacom really needs to watch themselves by maxume · · Score: 5, Informative

      Your comment about the commercials is a bit of a simplification. The cable/dish companies do indeed inject commercials into the content, but only in the places that the company providing the feed lets them. If you don't believe me, check out MTV or any other channel on C Band. They have lots of commercials. The same commercials that they have on little dish/cable networks...

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:Viacom really needs to watch themselves by leviramsey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If they start, Bush and Ashcroft are going to go down as the people who sent the Republican Party into the graveyard.

      Rupert Murdoch is basically gambling his empire on DirecTV. Increased content regulations will hurt his profit (porn is the most profitable aspect of DirecTV's business). If the GOP becomes a threat to the profitability, Rupert will try to eliminate the GOP.

      This means prime-time specials on Fox, Fox Sports, and Fox News denouncing the Republican Party as the Communist Party of the USA. This means every GOP scandal will be fully aired in the New York Post.

      He's taken down governments in Australia and the UK before.

  2. The list of channels in play... by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's the list of channels that will fall off of Dish Network if there's no deal by 11:59:59 PM ET tonight:

    BET
    Comedy Central
    MTV
    MTV2
    Nick Games & Sports
    Nickelodeon/Nick at Night (Both East and West versions)
    Noggin/The N
    VH1
    VH1 Classic
    All CBS O&O stations (listed here) within their local markets. (Those seeing WCBS, KCBS, or WBZ as a distant CBS service outside of their natrual zones will not be affected.)
    All UPN O&O stations (listed here) within their local markets. (Those seeing WSBK as a superstation outside of Boston will not be affected.)
    KCAL in the Los Angeles area.

    1. Re:The list of channels in play... by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow so after they go off the air the average intelligence of the Dish Network subscribers rise 50 points.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:The list of channels in play... by the_c0de_man · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I can live without any of those channels, except it would suck to not have the Daily show. Cartoon Network is really the only cable network that has anything good on anymore. Sealab 2020, Space Ghost, Aquatine Hunger Force, and my personal favorite, Home Movies (if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it).

      MTV is such crap. They had an excellent show, Clone High, which they cancelled. As far as I'm concerned, Viacom can screw themselves.

      And Comedy Central is just boring most of the time. I can't figure out how Dave Attell earned the title of "Comedian". All he does is just take us around shitty neighborhoods chatting with stupid people. If I wanted to see that, I would watch Cops.

  3. sounds familiar by bandy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This sounds familiar to the situation where the owners of KRON [tv] in San Francisco wanted them to air a station of theirs from LA, and withheld broadcast rights to KRON until they caved.

    We did without NBC for six months, Charlie [Dish] never caved. NBC moved itself to a San Jose station and we get NBC again.

    Viacom probably wants Dish to carry additional channels or drop competing channels from their line-up.

    --
    "You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
  4. I was wondering what that was about.. by falzbro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a Dish subscriber. I saw this message begin to scroll by several times over the weekend, and wondered what the hell was up.

    Each time, a few words in, a black bar appeared across the screen to block it out.

    This explains a lot. How childish.

    1. Re:I was wondering what that was about.. by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Each time, a few words in, a black bar appeared across the screen to block it out.
      [ from the article: "DishNetwork subscribers(me!) may have begun to see black bars cover the messages"]

      Now, I seem to remember a fuss about how modifying web-proxies (like Proxomitron) which remove ads from web pages, and TIVO-like devices, which allow the editing out or skipping of broadcast ads, violated the creator's copyright.

      My feeling is that editing out, as an end-user, is perfectly acceptable, equivalent to glancing away from a TV or scribbling over an ad in a magazine.

      But that's because I got the content the creator wished me to get, and I made a decision to ignore it. And indeed, that's what a judge decided in the case of those browser add-ons that replace a site's ads with their own: since the end user (wittingly or nor!) installed it, it's ok.

      But were my ISP to start modifying pages I received via my ISP's pipe, I'd be outraged: it's one thing for me to ignore whatever ad is showing on Slashdot today (yes, I use Proxomitron), it's quite another not to have the option to see that ad. Similarly, at one point, my hosting company (not my ISP) was filtering my email for spam. I promptly told them that wasn't what I wanted: I'm paranoid enough to about missing mail (you never know when an old ex-girlfriend is suddenly going to realize she's still in love with you -- and so far none of them have, but I live in hope ;) ), and besides, I'm perfectly capable of filtering for spam on my end.

      So how can it be legal for Dish to edit out content that's is efficiently advertisements on Viacom's stations?

      And how can we let the precedent be set that a carrier, not a creator or an end-user, has any right to do this? Because while what's being edited out is effectively an advertisement by Viacom, it is also an editorial comment. which leads to a slippery slope: if Dish can censor this, can they also censor a story on "60 Minutes" critical of Dish? A new story about, or an advertisement by, a political candidate that Dish doesn't want you to see?

      Just because you're the client of some carrier should not mean that that carrier has any right to regulate -- or, as in this case, change what you see. This is dangerous, and desires to be slapped down quickly and decisively.

      --
      Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
  5. As a Direct TV Viewer... by 403Forbidden · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I still get those damn scrolling messages. Haven't looked to see if they covered them up with anything, but it's quite a freaking shame to have MY PAID FOR channels have a scroll-bar at the bottom because of a scuffle with an entirely different company.

    The message itself was inflamitory, saying how customers should call Dish to keep the channels that "they [the consumer] paid for!" when that doesn't describe the scope of the suit in the least...

  6. Wasn't just Dish Network by danuary · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Although the ads were -directed- at DishNetwork viewers they were visible on other networks. I saw the "Attention Dish Network Subscribers" message when watching Comedy Central over the weekend -- and I have Time Warner Cable in NYC. I'm most certainly not who they were looking to reach.

  7. Crawl being seen on all other providers too by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The annoying crawls are not just limited to Dish Network. Viacom has no way to force a crawl onto only Dish Network feeds of their networks, so they have to put the crawls onto the network's backhaul feeds and therefore everybody sees them.

    I've been told that DirecTV's call centers have also been geting calls from their own consumers who don't read the whole ticker and are wondering if they're at risk too. (DirecTV's contracts are not lapsing right now, only Dish's.)

  8. The message was... by Ayandia · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The message was something like this:

    DishNetwork will stop offering BET, MTV, Nick at Night, Comedy Central...and many others. DishNetwork subscribers, call DishNetwork and tell them you want to keep the channels you paid for.

    It seemed to me like they were really saying:

    DishNetwork subscribers, please call DishNetwork and tie up their support lines with furious indignance while we spread disinformation!

    But the message had a complete lack of WHY those channels were going away, if at all. Anyone have some insight?

  9. Customers have choices... by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dish Network is trying to hold the line on the wholesale price of content. DirecTV, by comparison, just raised prices for their main content packages.

    So, if you want to get your content from the low-price supplier, you want to be with Dish Network and put up with these occasional squabbles. If you want a distributor that has a history of bending over whenever the prices go up, you go to DirecTV or your local cable company. Competition in a marketplace is good that way...

  10. not a Dish fan, but... by wonderdog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been a DishNet sub for 8 yrs now. To say I'm unhappy with the quality of their products would be an understatement. I'm ready to jump ship to DTV as soon as the HD DirecTiVo ships.

    BUT, Viacom is the evil party here IMO. They're holding Dish and all of its customers hostage until Dish accepts unreasonable contract terms. I for one, don't want higher TV monthly charges just because Viacom forces Dish to carry some obscure channels that the vast majority of subs will never watch.

    A la carte pricing would address this, but that's a whole nuther discussion.

  11. its a bloody shame by dj245 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Its a bloody shame that this is happening. I've found that the DirectTV box is buggy, or full of nasty "features". My carefully pruned favorites lists will have channels added to it at random times. I am often surprised to find that my 30-channel DirectTV favorites list has grown overnight to a 50-channel list with the inclusion of all the DTV informational channels and most of the QVC and shopping type channels. Does anyone elses box do this? I'd like to hope its a coincidental bug, but I'm the ever cynic, so I'm afraid its a very shameful "feature".

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  12. Forbes writeup by danuary · · Score: 5, Informative

    Substantially better writeup of the issues involved here.

  13. I work there.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I actually work For MTV Networks,

    I'm not happy about this either, but from I was told by management, Dish wants to pick and choose what they want to air, instead of taking packages. (ie they want MTV MTV2, Nick, and Comedy central but not Spike and cmt, Im not sure if the exact grouping though...) and Viacoms stance is its a package, they want some they take them all. This has started a pissing contest.

    Over the weekend We started moving the location of the crawl in order for it to be seen despite the black bar.

    1. Re:I work there.. by SyntheticTruth · · Score: 5, Insightful


      This is *exactly* why ala-cart channels are better for citizens. The package idea would not fly in any other market.

      "No, sir, you can not buy that printer without also buying the computer."

      "No, sir, you can not have a soda without also buying the burger and fries."

      The media companies, however, are huge and know they have the weight to toss around. I've never used either dish provider, but I'm glad to see one stand up to keep citizen's prices lower (and thus their own, of course.)

  14. Re:And as usual the customer gets screwed... by vidarh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You miss the point. Viacom is putting the thumbscrew on and demands more money. Dish Network has told them they want to keep negotiating because they don't think the fees are worth it - if Dish gives in the customers will have to pay more. Obviously Dish Network is looking out for themselves too, but they have the same interest as their customers: To keep the price of their service down.

  15. Re:Censorship? by the_mad_poster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, it's not censorship... jesus christ. Viacom is intentionally scrolling messages to try and turn Dish Network subscribers against Dish Network by making it seem like Dish is "threatening" (I quote) to drop various popular channels such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc.

    I don't think it's unfair to expect Dish to try and block out that kind of obvious bullshit. If the issue really were that simple, then okay, but Viacom is trying to play ignorant consumers against Dish Network by manipulating them with half-truths and menacing terms. I see nothing wrong with Dish trying to defend itself from these flagrant attacks by blotting the messages out.

    --
    Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
  16. Re:You should switch anyways... by Ath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you want to know an advantage, how about Dish never sued any of their customers or started filing blanket lawsuits against anyone with a completely legal and legitimate ISO card programmer.

    If you are not willing to vote with your dollars, what are you willing to do?