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Dirictv vs Viacom getting very UGLY

K

Kenny Atkinson

From Facebook....
Share this: Viacom is now taking away online programming from everyone. Less than 12 hours after disconnecting DIRECTV’s television viewers, Viacom is at it again by blocking all Americans who want to see their shows on the Internet.

DIRECTV developed an "Other Ways To Watch" section on its DIRECTVPromise.com site to help fans find Viacom’s shows online. Unfortunately, Viacom shut off access for all users at approx 3 pm EDT. Immediately after, Viacom began a systematic network-by-network black out of most of its sites’ online streaming. Viacom is now not only holding DIRECTV customers hostage, but all online viewers as well. Is this just another underhanded negotiating tactic, or does this mean that Viacom will no longer offer its content free online? #DIRECTVHasMyBack
 
I won't be surprised if they order a nationwide recall of all their shows that were published on VHS, DVD or BluRay -- by gunpoint; or have someone hack YouTube so that no one can watch their programming, legal or not. This amounts to corporate bullying at the expense of the viewers and the fans of their programming.
 
I still watch (a little) TV over the air. And I wait for the good shows to come out on DVD. And there's Hulu and Netflix. But my recreational life doesn't revolve around watching TV. Take THAT Viacom!
 
See it in January 2015 that DirectTV and Viacom are still trying to agree to a deal and ads all over TV and newspapers.
 
azumanga said:
I won't be surprised if they order a nationwide recall of all their shows that were published on VHS, DVD or BluRay -- by gunpoint; or have someone hack YouTube so that no one can watch their programming, legal or not. This amounts to corporate bullying at the expense of the viewers and the fans of their programming.
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They already sued YouTube for a billion dollars years ago, and they're still at it with them soooo
 
I agree with azumanga. Viacom may have everyone pay $3.99 to watch one video on YouTube. Who knows...

-crainbebo
 
visaman said:
PirateJohnny said:
I wait for the good shows to come out on DVD.
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How long have you been waiting? :D
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I'm buying F-Troop DVDs next week. I don't have to see a show the first night it is broadcast, nor within the first week. As long as I can watch it anytime in the future I'm happy. Leverage is at the top of my DVD list to buy right now.

Oh, wait, you said good shows. I get it...
 
Viacom is just another corporate greed machine. My friends with Direct say they don't miss those networks and chances are many other subscribers won't miss them, either!

If it was me I'd start converting all my VHS taped shows to digital just so I can tell them "buh-bye." As much as I dislike DirecTV I hate thugs like Viacom more.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Viacom is just another corporate greed machine. My friends with Direct say they don't miss those networks and chances are many other subscribers won't miss them, either!

If it was me I'd start converting all my VHS taped shows to digital just so I can tell them "buh-bye." As much as I dislike DirecTV I hate thugs like Viacom more.
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You are no doubt right that corporations are greedy. Not to be defending "thugs" - but remember that content providers are facing a scary new world in which their content can be seen free on the internet (sometimes legitimately, but often pirated). A friend of mine never pays for anything - and generally watches anything and everything he wants for free using Bit Torrent.

Meanwhile, on traditional television, growing numbers of people are fast forwarding through the commercials. Yes - I know, we could do that 25 years ago with VHS and Beta, but it wasn't as easy. Now it's as easy as starting a 30 minute commercial program 6 minutes late, or a 60 minute program 12 minutes late - you zap the ads and catch up by the end of the show. As DVRs proliferate, advertisers will be scared off and content providers could conceivably not have enough revenue to continue producing programming, much less make a profit.

Also, inflation exists - costs go up, so it's not necessarily always "greed" that makes them hammer the cable and satellite companies for higher user fees.

We're all paying more for gasoline and bread than we did a few years ago. Is is a surprise that we're paying more for access to entertainment content?
 
Keep in mind that Viacom is taking tired, retread programming they already own and putting it anywhere they can. When I saw TV Bland go from family friend old shows to the Extreme Makeover Betty White all Bonanza and Gunsmoke rerun channel I left and never looked back. Having a local with MyTV and RTV made this a no brainer. MTV hasn't done music videos in ages. The other channels they own? I never watch them so it's easy to not have any attachment to them.

Here it is in a nutshell. Back in the old days, people were loyal to radio and TV channels for a multitude of reasons, between the air personalities, programming, etc. When a network spews garbage out 24/7 very few are going to be loyal to them. This is the way I feel about Game Show Network. After they jettisoned much of the classic game shows from their schedule that's another network I wouldn't miss if it were to go black.

Viacom is going to lose on this, period!
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Keep in mind that Viacom is taking tired, retread programming they already own and putting it anywhere they can. When I saw TV Bland go from family friend old shows to the Extreme Makeover Betty White all Bonanza and Gunsmoke rerun channel I left and never looked back. Having a local with MyTV and RTV made this a no brainer. MTV hasn't done music videos in ages. The other channels they own? I never watch them so it's easy to not have any attachment to them.

Here it is in a nutshell. Back in the old days, people were loyal to radio and TV channels for a multitude of reasons, between the air personalities, programming, etc. When a network spews garbage out 24/7 very few are going to be loyal to them. This is the way I feel about Game Show Network. After they jettisoned much of the classic game shows from their schedule that's another network I wouldn't miss if it were to go black.

Viacom is going to lose on this, period!
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Gawd - I'm certainly not defending TV Land. I haven't watched anything on that cesspool in years - same tired old reruns, heavily edited with added commercials. I did check out one episode of their new sitcom with Betty White, Valerie Beretinelli et. al...awful!
 
It's funny to be reading a radio discussion group and seeing people call content companies greedy.

If I'm a DirecTV customer, and I'm now prevented from watching MTV, I either want a discount from DirecTV, or I want out of my contract so I can get DISH. I shouldn't have to pay the same monthly fee and not get some of the most popular channels. My deal is with DirecTV, not Viacom. It's DirecTV's job to make sure I as a customer get what I paid for. If not, I want a refund.
 
Directv has turned on the Encore channels for everyone to make up for the loss of the Viacom channels. Now while that doesn't help those who are already Starz/Encore subscribers, it is a nice gesture on D*'s part. I have also heard that people who are calling D* to complain are being offered 3 months of premium channels and other discounts.

As far as I am concerned, I don't want to pay 1 penny more for the crap on the Viacom channels. I applaud D* for standing up and trying to be responsible to their viewers to keep rates as low as possible.
 
TheBigA said:
If I'm a DirecTV customer, and I'm now prevented from watching MTV, I either want a discount from DirecTV, or I want out of my contract so I can get DISH. I shouldn't have to pay the same monthly fee and not get some of the most popular channels. My deal is with DirecTV, not Viacom. It's DirecTV's job to make sure I as a customer get what I paid for. If not, I want a refund.
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Agreed, but somebody had to draw a line in the sand. If DirecTV caved to Viacom's extortion what would stop them (Viacom) from pulling the same nonsense to cable companies?
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Agreed, but somebody had to draw a line in the sand. If DirecTV caved to Viacom's extortion what would stop them (Viacom) from pulling the same nonsense to cable companies?
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You call it extortion when all they're doing is asking for their share of the pie. DirecTV is twice the size of Viacom in terms of revenues. They can afford a few more pennies per subscriber.
 
TheBigA said:
Bill DeFelice said:
Agreed, but somebody had to draw a line in the sand. If DirecTV caved to Viacom's extortion what would stop them (Viacom) from pulling the same nonsense to cable companies?
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You call it extortion when all they're doing is asking for their share of the pie. DirecTV is twice the size of Viacom in terms of revenues. They can afford a few more pennies per subscriber.
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Exactly. Direct must have a great PR machine to have its subscribers, who pay dearly for their service, accept less for the same price! I've been on AT&T Uverse for 3 years now and have not had one channel dropped or my bill go up.
 
Believe me, as an ex-DirecTV subscriber of 6 years I'm no fan of them - in fact I cancelled them because they gave new subscribers free HD for life while ripping off long time customers an extra $10/month.

I suppose my own dislike for Viacom is the crummy programming. If they had something decent to watch and didn't desecrate what little decent programming they had I might see things differently.
 
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