a dirtty bitch named Viacom

Originally Posted by Total Head

pretty much this. the greed is on the part of viacom. having worked for a major cable company, and having been heavily briefed on the whole thing, the networks themselves are greedy cunts. they try to stipulate in what channel package the channel will appear, whether or not it can be offered a la carte, how much the company should pay for it, etc. this takes away the tv provider's ability to fairly price their product.

when i worked for cable there was a big hullabaloo over the nfl network. we didn't carry it, and negotiations kept falling through. the nfl network wanted us to offer the channel in the expanded basic package, which would effectively raise rates for everyone, whether or not they cared about that channel. my company wanted it in the sports tier so that only people who wanted it would have to pay for it. that's not greedy, that's protecting the largest chunk of subscribers from a rate increase. imagine your bill went up 7 bucks a month because they added some channel that you don't give a shit about and never asked for. this is also a major reason why all the different providers group their channels differently. with dish network you can't get AMC whether you like it or not. that's a sacrifice they made so they could keep their packages at a certain price, which is essentially their only competitive edge.

TL;DR networks are greedy assholes who do everything in their power to get more money because they know customers want their channel and the cable providers will eventually fold and give them what they ask for, or lose customers.

It actually goes deeper than that.

Viacom has increases to pass on as well.

The studios which produce the shows on the networks, the actors, their agents, the producers, the unions who represent the crews, etc.; all of them demand a bigger cut. Which they get because their shows are popular.

Viacom is simply attempting to pass on those increases to DirectTV.

DirectTV would rather not agree to it because they will have to pass the increases along to their subscribers.

And DirectTV does not wish to deal with angry customers complaining about a rate increase.

That is why DirectTV wants to negotiate. And that is why Viacom chose to hold DirectTV customer's favorite channels hostage.

I often wonder....

Why is it that the same people who complain bitterly about 'greedy' CEOs and 'greedy' corporations apparently have no problem with 'greedy' millionaire celebrities and 'greedy' millionaire athletes?

not sure if anyone heard but I was just checking my email and...

Thanks to your patience and support, DIRECTV today entered into a new long-term agreement with Viacom to immediately return all the channels you had previously enjoyed. Plus, as a result of our new deal, you will soon enjoy the freedom to see all your favorite Viacom shows on your computer, tablet or cell phone through our DIRECTV Everywhere platform. Although Viacom had regrettably tried to deny you access to drive a more expensive deal, our focus was always about giving you the absolute best experience at the most reasonable cost.

More details on the agreement can be found on DirectvPromise.com. It includes long-term rights to provide Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Spike, CMT, TV Land and several others so Viacom cannot try to deny you access anytime again soon. Your patience during this unfortunate Viacom blackout has helped to serve notice to every media company that you and our other customers will not be bullied. Hopefully, thanks to your support and others', we can together make these blackouts a thing of the past.

Thank you again for your patience and support. We know you have a choice among providers and we appreciate you choosing us.

stay high