Sky's mission to boost its roster of mobile TV content has today seen it add no fewer than 14 new entertainment channels to its Sky Go streaming service. Available on iOS and a number of Android devices, Sky Go now counts a total of 57 channels after Comedy Central, MTV, Dave, Watch, Gold, Discovery, Nat Geo, History, Alibi, Nat Geo Wild, TLC, Animal Planet, Good Food and Eden all went live earlier today. It comes just weeks after the company expanded Now TV with the launch of its contract-free Entertainment Month Pass, which moved to overlap content with the sister service. In addition to the new channels, Sky Go users can access the box-set catalog of older ABC TV on-demand shows, letting you binge-watch Grey's Anatomy a-la-Netflix when you're out and about.
Via: Pocket-lint
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Seeing that DirecTV and Viacom can't even agree on the number of channels that have gone off the air (one says 17, the other 26) as a result of their deal expiring last week, it's no surprise that the two are continuing to challenge each other's statements on every element of the negotiations. The latest tiff? DirecTV claims it has "accepted all material terms...including an increase that was more than fair" for the channels that were pulled, but accuses Viacom of trying to force an addition of the Epix channel package at a cost of around half a billion dollars. Viacom, for its part, calls the statement a "complete work of fiction" and accuses DirecTV of creating more obstacles in the way of a compromise. Both point of views are linked below, we figure DirecTV customers will have plenty of time to read them while they're busy not watching the new episodes of Workaholics and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta until this is resolved.
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DirecTV and Viacom disagree on their disagreements, standoff continues originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As we feared, DirecTV and Viacom didn't work things out and before the clock struck midnight ET, all of the network's feeds went dark for the satellite company's customers. Of course, both sides are throwing barbs with Viacom saying DirecTV was not interested in engaging in "meaningful conversation" and that their last contact was at 11AM. On DirecTV's side, it's claiming it sent proposals but never heard anything back and as such was forced to pull the channels. Viacom has been running ads and notices all day to make sure kids big and little call DirecTV to apply pressure about missing their television shows. DirecTV is firing back with the Kids Mix channel (shown above) that replaces the pulled children's programming and points out content on other stations, and even suggests customers check out sources like Amazon Prime or Netflix to keep watching their shows in the meantime. There's no telling who may blink first, or when, but you can look at each company's statement and hear the sabres rattling for yourself after the break. Any bets as to who will work out a deal first between these two and Dish Network / AMC?
Continue reading Viacom channels disappear from DirecTV after the two companies can't reach a deal
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Viacom channels disappear from DirecTV after the two companies can't reach a deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The latest participants in the carriage dispute dance are DirecTV and Viacom, with the two companies attempting to reach a new agreement before their existing one expires tonight. If they don't, the network's 26 channels (MTV, BET, VH1, Spike TV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon etc.) could be cut off at midnight. As usual, each has its own side of the argument with Viacom claiming DirecTV has been underpaying for years, while DirecTV accuses Viacom of seeking an increase that will add up to a billion dollars in a year and is responsible for pulling the channels while negotiations continue. We're not particularly sympathetic to the plight of either corporate behemoth (or optimistic that any savings will ever reach customer's pockets) but if you must support one over the other then there's plenty of propaganda to be found at the links below. This may not be as crucial as Dish Network's (potentially) Breaking Bad-interrupting tiff with AMC, but if we have to miss an episode of Workaholics or Awkward it's going to be bad for everyone.
Update: We've revised the total channel count from 26 as Viacom stated to 18 -- as much as we like HD feeds, we don't usually count them twice.
[Thanks, AJ]
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DirecTV vs. Viacom squabble could see MTV, Comedy Central and 16 others go dark at midnight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 08:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Good news ahoy if you've liked Time Warner Cable's TWC TV streaming app but were frustrated with content providers pulling channels over licensing rights: the cable giant and Viacom have reached a settlement that will see Viacom's channels return to your Android or iOS gear. Comedy Central, CMT, MTV and other channels will be back in the next several weeks, and the two sides even managed to bury the hatched over "unrelated business matters," according to a joint statement. Just what led to the about-face is being kept secret, although Viacom's tendency to sue over retransmission rights in the digital realm raises the possibility that TWC had to fork over an extra amount. At least now you can watch The Daily Show on your iPad knowing your cable provider and the studio are singing "Kumbaya."
Viacom and Time Warner Cable call truce, TWC TV mobile apps will stream Colbert after all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 16:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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