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Dell Streak / Mini 5 makes a cameo appearance at MTV
It's been a while since we've heard much about the Dell Streak / Mini 5, but it seems like the plus-size phone (or mini-size tablet, whichever you prefer) went on a bit of an undercover media promotion tour last week: Viacom MTV exec Greg Clayman tweeted that it's "amazing," while Rob Enderle brought one to the set of John C. Dvorak's Cranky Geeks and said it would launch for around $300 on contract. What does it all mean? We're assuming it's being shown off in an effort to drum up some content partnerships: we've already heard about tie-ins with Amazon's MP3, video, and Kindle stores, and we'd bet that Dell's also going after newspapers, magazines, and video sites hard in an effort to push back at the iPad -- especially since the company is planning to bring out an entire "family of tablets" in the future. Or... it's nothing at all, and AT&T is going to completely wreck this thing before it launches, like it did with the Aero. Dreams or nightmares, the choice is yours.
RealNetworks to spin off Rhapsody, give up control
Seems like times are tough in the streaming music game -- Warner is making noise about dropping free streaming rights to its catalog, and now RealNetworks and Viacom have announced plans to spin off the Rhapsody subscription service. The new company will obviously be known as Rhapsody, and both Real and Viacom will hold a sub-50 percent stake in the outfit and remain on the board of directors. Real's also contributing $18m in cash to the cause, while Viacom's committed to providing $33m in advertising -- we'll see if Rhapsody can make it on its own once that all runs out.
AT&T adds 6 MTV Networks HD channels to U-verse
This was too much to wait another day for our roundup, U-Verse officially announced picking up 6 new feeds today from MTV, with MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, Nickelodeon HD, COMEDY CENTRAL HD and Spike HD going live nationally (what happened to BET HD?) as part of a lineup with more than 100 HD channels in every market. That enough to make you part of even more new customers in this quarter? Press release is after the break.
Netflix adds South Park, Dora & more to Watch Instantly
For all Netflix Watch Instantly queues found lacking (possibly due to excessive swiping?), the company announced the addition of several MTV Networks properties including South Park (but not in HD), Dora the Explorer, True Jackson, VP and Spongebob Squarepants. Keen watchers of the recently added RSS feed have probably seen this content trickling onto the service recently, but that's no reason not to queue up a few seasons of each and kick back.
AT&T's U-verse TV picking up seven Viacom networks in HD
Just days after AT&T announced that NHL Network HD would be gliding over to U-verse TV, in flies a report stating that Viacom and AT&T have linked up on a sweet new deal. Said agreement will enable seven new networks to join the U-verse TV EPG: MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, BET HD, Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD and Spike HD. The deal also "renews carriage of the MTVN and BETN channels and VOD content featured on AT&T U-verse TV, and provides for carriage of new international channels, including MTV India, later this year." Now, let's wait and see if those monthly rates creep up any after the fact.
MTVNHD & Nick Jr. going Deutsch
It's a promise, in 2009 Germany get MTVNHD and Nick Jr. distribution. Sure, they may not be quite on time but this is a new year and we're forgetting about the past. MTV Networks Germany didn't let slip which broadcaster(s) would be putting the channel on the air, but MTVNHD is due in the early part of the year with Nick Jr. following, although until then you can get your Nick fix while it replaces the Palladia loops on weekend mornings.[Via HDTV Total]
Comedy Central HD launches today on Cablevision
Comedy Central HD launches today, and Cablevision iO TV subscribers will be the first to see it. According to Multichannel News we can expect 200 hours or so of native HD programming to start, including about 30 episodes of South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, plus loads of archived stand up and films. Coming up fresh and new for your HDTV is season 13 of South Park, Reno 911, The Flaming Sward of Fire and Krod Mandoon, while The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,and The Colbert Report will get an HD upgrade at a later date. Besides nabbing the exclusive, Cablevision's trumpeting its numbers showing HD penetration is up to nearly 50 percent of iO TV subs, with 69 HD channels available. Otherwise, DirecTV and Cox will be adding later this month with more launches due later in the year -- hopefully Time Warner worked that into the latest deal with Viacom.[Via Multichannel News]
Time Warner, Viacom reach agreement; Bromance crisis averted
Put down the bubbly and nearest willing stranger for a moment, if you're a Time Warner Cable subscriber, you may have noticed that your MTV Networks channels -- including everyone's favorite Palladia / MHD -- are still there, even after a very public squabble threatened to turn them dark around the same time everyone's Zune started working again. Both sides have confirmed the cable giant reached an agreement in principle with Viacom, without revealing how it happened. How much did Viacom end up getting? We may have to wait for the next TWC rate hike to know for sure. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
American Cable Association calls out Viacom's annoying crawl
We're not sure how this demand will be received, but the American Cable Association's argument is simple: if only Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subs are in danger of losing MTV Networks channels at the stroke of midnight, why are we all bothered with an annoying crawl message? Of course, that plea is couched by statements backing TWC and BHN's reluctance to agree to new higher programming fees, but those of us eagerly anticipating a Miley-Sized surprise during tonight's NYE celebration that have a different provider could do without the interruptions.
Time Warner Cable threatens Viacom with the ghosts of Christmas past
Time Warner Cable CEO & President Glenn Britt says don't blame him, blame sliding advertising and falling ratings for Viacom's lost revenue and subsequent Scrooge-style "extortion" of TWC customers to keep MTV Networks on after the ball drops tonight. Beyond the outrageous claim that viewers might be tuning away from My Super Sweet 16 marathons, Britt claims that "penny per subscriber per day" adds up to an unreasonable $39 million, while TWC nobly attempts to keep negotiations going on behalf of its customers. Oddly we find it hard to view either side as thinking of the customer first in this slapfight, but if we miss a single episode of Bromance before things are resolved, there will be hell to pay. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
MTVNHD: MTV's International HD network goes live September 15
MTV Networks High Definition goes live September 15 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, including original programming like Chartblast, Uncompressed and HD Extreme and MTV Top 20. The bad news of course, is that beyond the original programming, Viacom is stuffing the 24-hour English language channel -- broadcasting straight out of Poland, a Buenos Aires production hub is due later on -- full of Nickelodeon programs on weekend mornings, and the rest will be filled with what appears to be the same 300 hours of high def library already being looped on MHD / Palladia right now. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela should have their shot at boredom by the end of the year.[Via Reuters]
Konami sues Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV over Rock Band
Alright, this is getting a little silly. First it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band and Guitar Hero violated a patent covering "simulating a musical performance," and now Konami is suing Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game because Rock Band allegedly violates a similar set of patents covering "simulated musical instruments" and "musical rhythm-based matching games." Filed in good ol' Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in damages and an order preventing the sale of Rock Band's instruments. Interestingly, Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine print on Activision's Guitar Hero homepage says the game is covered by the Konami patents in question, so it appears that Activision's managed to reach a licensing agreement with Konami -- which, if true, doesn't necessarily bode well for Harmonix and company. No one's commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix's lawyers are furiously punching in the old up-up-down-down trying to get this to go away.Read - Wired article on the lawsuitRead - Gamasutra articleRead - Konami's complaint (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering simulated musical instruments (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering musical arcade machines (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering musical game machines (PDF)
BitTorrent strikes a deal with Hollywood
You might consider BitTorrent to be the discerning pirate's choice when it comes to obtaining everything from movies to software. Well, it's about to go mainstream, given that BitTorrent, Inc. announced a partnership with pretty much everyone in Hollywood, including 20th Century Fox, G4, Lions Gate, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and plenty others. This isn't the first time that the establishment has saddled up with everyone's favorite file sharing company, although we're not exactly sure what the effects were on the seedy underground of the internets, nor what new revenue Warner Bros. saw from that deal. Still, this new unnamed service's offerings and prices will be made available in February 2007, which will be when the BitTorrent's new online retail marketplace opens for business.[Thanks, Alan]
