I Want My MTV

Or rather, I want the networks that MTV and Viacom own.  I had my first indication that trouble was brewing only yesterday, when I was watching Comedy Central.  Text began to crawl on the bottom of the screen saying something to the affect of “Attention Dish Network customers, your....” and that was all I got, as a black bar then covered the lower third until presumably the message was gone.  I didnt know if someone hijacked the DishNetwork signal, or if Comedy Central was trying to give me a message, or if CBS was trying to give me a message (it was a Conan O’brian rerun.)

Today, I turned on the tv while eating breakfast, and tons of channels in my program guide say “Off Air, Please Hit Info.” The info button tells me that Viacom is UNREASONABLE (caps theirs) and that this network is unavailable, tune to 101 for more information.  On Channel 101 is a looping video of the DishNetwork CEO explaining how the negotiations with Viacom have gone sour and they didn’t renew their contract, because of a 40% rate hike.  Sounds like a lot.  Also, we’ll all be refunded a portion of our bill until the dispute is settled.  How much?  $1.  One dollar?!?!  Is that all of my bill that goes to the Viacom channels?  Then raise my bill 40 cents and give me my danged channels! Obviously, that’s a token refund that they are doing, and is pretty insulting in my opinion.  And if it really IS how much of my bill pays for Viacom services, and they don’t want to raise the customer’s bills---then EAT the 40 cents, DishNetwork!

As many articles are reporting, Viacom has raised everyone’s rates.  DirectTV and Comcast got the same deal that was offered DishNetwork.  Is it wrong?  Probably.  Should DishNetwork make their customers suffer while they fight this battle?  Definitely not.  Average people don’t care about anti-trust lawsuits, or letting their consumer dollar take a principled stand.  They just want the Daily Show, and no crying about it!  I mean, it would be different if this really were about principles, or about keeping low rates for consumers, but it’s not.  It’s about my television provider wanting to make higher profits.  And they can do that on their own dime, not mine.

Incidentally, the channels removed from my package were: BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Spike, TV Land, and some others that are really not even worth mentioning.

Regardless, Viacom issued a statement on the issue that’s quite revealing.  The “UNREASONABLE” rate hike comes to six cents a month per subscriber.  So yeah, the $1 is evidently an oversized refund, as that makes the Viacom portion of my bill cost DishNetwork fifteen lousy cents currently.

Needless to say, I’ve been using Bob Vila’s open relay on their website to send spam to DishNetwork demanding they quit crying and give me my channels back.  Hehe, don’t I wish.

Posted Tuesday March 9, 2004 in News by Derek Jones

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Comments

Wow, I completely missed that “CBS” was in that list.  I mean, “Comedy Central” would be a big enough blow for me, but ripping out one of the major networks?!?!

So, what other options do you have in your area for TV besides DishNetworks?  You should get DirectTv with a DirectTiVo… rasberryirate:  (hey, the DirectTiVos even have dual tuners, I think, which would seriously ROCK!!)

By Chris Curtis on March 9, 2004 at 02:26pm link

I have a DirecTV dish on the roof of my house already, as we had it a few years ago.  It was more expensive, and I don’t like their hardware as much (or rather, software, the program guide.)

I can’t afford to go the route of a new receiver, which would definitely be a must, TiVo or not, if I switch back to DirecTV, because the 7-year-old version I have sucks.

We could go back to Comcast, but the lines in our neighborhood get screwed up when it rains, and we can’t get the channels we want without taking their “everything” package.

By Derek Jones on March 9, 2004 at 02:35pm link

Bah… damn those monopolies!  yeah, all cable/satellite is a lot more expensive than I really wish it were.  That sucks about both DirectTV and Comcast.

On the plus side, though, DishNetworks is getting a lot of (bad) publicity about the stunt they pulled, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you get your channels back really soon.  Whether it’s from DN caving and paying the higher fees or from Viacom caving and licensing for less doesn’t really matter to the end user.

You just need your Daily Show!

By Chris Curtis on March 9, 2004 at 02:50pm link

You just need your Daily Show!

Without a doubt.  And Chapelle Show.

I can’t imagine what was going through DN’s minds and thinking that their customer base would be loyal to them instead of the shows and networks they were watching.  On their site, they have phone numbers and contacts of CBS/Viacom so that you can complain and tell them to lower their rates.  *rolls eyes*

I mean, if they really expected to win an anti-trust suit, or force Viacom into lower rates, they’d need Comcast and DirecTV to file along with them.  DN accounts for only 3% of Viacom’s annual earnings.  Yet Viacom networks account for about 20% of the programming watched on DN.

By Derek Jones on March 9, 2004 at 02:58pm link

Oh cripes.  This whole thing may have been a sham all along.  It looks like Viacom might end up buying Echostar.  Other agencies are reporting similar findings.  And on last night’s live call-in chat on DishNetwork, Ergen (DN CEO), said that it looked like a deal was going to be made and that “Usually when those things [both parties wanting to have the situation resolved] happen, good things happen.”

I’m going to assume that if they buy Echostar, that Ergen will drop his anti-trust lawsuit. :-

By Derek Jones on March 10, 2004 at 10:40am link

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