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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]
Stephen Colbert brings freedom, 'Charlene' to Rock Band
Sure, Stephen Colbert's political humor is great, but we prefer his early work: The sensitive, touching and frequently unnerving pop he crafted as part of Stephen and the Colberts. The apex of their work, the semi-hit single "Charlene," is now available as a free download on Rock Band.Right now, this standard of American synth-stalk-pop is only available as a free download on Xbox Live, but we wouldn't be surprised if it was also part of today's PSN update. In the meantime, see Colbert's softer side just after the jump.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
Xbox Live queues up more HD movies & TV for March
Xbox Live Marketplace has been busy adding videos all year and it looks like March will be the same way, with Afro Samurai hitting the service in HD only next month. More South Park is coming too, starting March 10, along with a free episode of Lewis Black's new show and Robot: Chicken: Star Wars. No word on if the latter two are available in HD, but check after the break for some of the movies showing up for rent next month.
Daily Show tackles iPhone fever
Nothing's funnier than geek humor, I suppose. Tonight's episode of The Daily Show featured a segment with correspondent Rob Riggle on a mission to get himself an iPhone. When he discovered that the onsale date was tomorrow, he interviewed (and came close to beating up) Gizmodo's Brian Lam (of the Cisco iPhone fracas) to try and get a piece of the action. Riggle eventually admitted to Jon Stewart that he'd been out selling his body, working to earn the scratch for his iPhone fix. Classy.
Pricey Daily Show, Colbert Report now on XBLM
Xbox Live owners looking to download some Tek Jansen goodness today might be pleasantly surprised to see last night's Daily Show and Colbert Report available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Comedy Central favorites cost 160 MS points ($2) per episode and will be made regularly available "within 24 hours of each original airing" according to a notice from Microsoft.While we're happy to see some more quality video content available for our Xboxen, we think the pricing might be off for such a short, topical show. At $2 an episode, buying both shows four days a week costs $64 per month. For that kind of money, you could probably swing a complete basic cable package, with a little left over to put towards a Tivo subscription. Considering iTunes users can get the same double dose of direct download comedy goodness for about $20 a month, we've got to wonder why Microsoft thinks their system is worth the extra money.
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen opens chrono-rift in XBLM
Solar plexus! Now that Viacom's gotten the lawyers involved, it's become increasingly difficult for us to track down our favorite Tek Jansen clips on YouTube. Sure, we can always go to Viacom's own iFilm property and watch the preroll ad (and they still can't be embedded in our posts).As Microsoft looks for more ways to fill those 120GB hard drives they want you to buy, they're enlisting the help of Stephen Colbert Presents: Stephen Colbert's Alpha Squad 7 -- Tek Jansen the New Adventures. Available this week, the first short will be free while future installments will cost an unspecified amount. Our favorite? Operation Dragontongue: Chocolate Blades of Thunder. But hurry! If you don't click this link and watch the video immediately, you risk opening a chrono-rift in the space-time continuum and may miss important life lessons (hint: DON'T GO IN CAVES!).[Via Arrogantics]
South Park in HD for everyone (including Europe)
As mentioned earlier, the free South Park episode in full HD glory was released to the XBLM today. But we have a little surprise for our European friends overseas. Major Nelson took it upon himself to send the marketing team your complaints about the free episode not being available to all of Europe. And they listened. AceyBongo posted a blog to tell everyone that not only Belgium and the Netherlands will receive it, but ALL of Europe! Yup, your complaining paid off. As it stands, the US, Canada, all of Europe, and a few Asian territories will get the free download. Be sure to note that some countries in Europe may not be able to download the episode right away due to the change in plans, but be assured it is coming. So, enjoy your free episode of South Park ... you European folks earned it.[Via Major Nelson]
eBay alert: Wii-style Scion xB
We watched Comedy Central for, like, a whole weekend to try to win a Wii back in November, but to no avail. We weren't specifically trying to win this car, which was the actual grand prize, but we would have happily taken it.... and put it on eBay, which is what the actual winner of the Thanxgiveaway Wiikend has done. Now, we love the Wii, and we love to let everyone around us know it, but having a car with the logo of a popular electronic device painted on the side in giant letters is like extending an invitation to any rogue or highwayman to come on in and help themselves to our Devo CD's. At least, that was the reasoning we came up with when we were daydreaming about how awesome it would be to win that contest. We might have felt different if we had been presented with our own Wiimobile. Want to (kind of) know what it feels like to win a major award? Bidding is up to $14,100![Via Game|Life]
Verizon's V CAST Mobile TV going live March 1st
Nah, Verizon Wireless isn't snapping up Alltel just yet or anything, but the carrier is formally announcing its plans to launch its much-anticipated V CAST Mobile TV service right on schedule. The March 1st date that's been floating around is purportedly true, meaning there won't be any unforeseen delays in enjoying the mobile TV abilities of your forthcoming SCH-U620 or VX9400 -- if you're in a launch market, that is. Currently, the exact whereabouts of launch capabilities is a bit ambiguous, and curiously omitted are major markets such as "New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego and Las Vegas," but the provider reportedly plans to have a good deal of these "major markets" covered by the "end of Q1," or March 31st. The service will utilize Qualcomm's MediaFLO mobile TV network, which AT&T also plans on eventually using, and will offer up programming from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark in regard to an official pricing structure, but with only T-minus two days 'til kickoff, the remaining minutiae should surface soon enough.
Bill Gates headed for Daily Show on Monday
Just in time for the launch of Microsoft's new game enabled operating system, Windows Vista, Bill Gates will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday. We imagine Billy boy will take a little time to tout the success of the Xbox 360 as well. Who knows, if we're lucky, we might even get to hear a little corporate mudslinging. That's always fun. We have to wonder if Bill will have a few choice words for John Hodgman though.Check out the show (or set your TiVo) Monday 11:00/10:00 Central on Comedy Central.[Via Digg]
Comedy Central features Wii in "Thanxgiveaway"
Sure, you could be grateful for your home and your family and all that other mushy garbage, but we know what you really want ... and so does Comedy Central. Nothing makes you scream thanks to the deity of your choice like a free Nintendo Wii -- and that's why the Wii is a featured prize for the comedy network's Thanksgiving promotion. During 48 hours of programming between Thursday and Sunday, Comedy Central will give away a Wii every hour, so grab a plate of leftovers and settle in. After all, cold mashed potatoes taste so much better when there's a chance at a free console.
Xbox 360 spotted on South Park ... with 4 wired controllers?
Microsoft's Xbox 360 made its South Park debut last night. In one scene (seen here), Stan, Kyle, Butters, and Kenny are all using wired controllers. What up with that?Could this be a hint? Is Microsoft planning a major Xbox 360 announcement at E3? A revelation that would trump anything that Nintendo or Sony could whip out? A new Xbox 360 model with four — yes, four! — USB ports?Consider this ... what if Microsoft has already played out wireless? Heck, for that matter, what if the next-gen forerunner has already played out the entire HD era (notice the standard def hookup)? Is the next turn for Microsoft ... the retro era? A mess of tangled wires ... a pile of dusty cartridges ... 2D-pixelated Halo? C'mon, admit it, that would better than any of this Wiimote propaganda or those fourth dimension rumors we've been hearing from the other guys.... Okay, we're just being silly — we'll stop. So did anyone else catch the South Park episode last night?
New video content in iTunes
Plug in your iPods, folks, there's new content in the iTunes Music Store. Comedy Central has added David Spade's The Showbiz Show [iTunes Link] and Disney has added Hannah Montana (which is up to 143 reviews already. Wow.), which features one episode and one music video [iTunes link]. New episodes of That's So Raven have also made their way into the store [iTunes link], and rumor has it that the current season of South Park, season 10, will be made available soon.Update: Even more changes! A free episode of Sci Fi's Ghost Hunters is available [iTunes link], as are video highlights from NYC's fashion week [iTunes link]. Plus, season passes are now available for Desperate Housewives and Lost.
Mind of Mencia in iTunes
I must admit, I'm really enjoying the comedy content in the iTunes Music Store. This morning, Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia has been made available [iTunes link]. Thirteen episodes from season 1 are available at $1.99 each, and a single episode from season 2 is up. Unfortunately, there is no subscription option set up for this particular show.
Colbert Report, Daily Show in iTunes
As of earlier this morning (8:00 AM EST), there is a page for both The Colbert Report [iTunes link] and the Daily Show [iTunes Link] in the iTunes Music Store, though they still do not contain any available episodes. The sale of these shows is being handled a bit differently. You can buy a "multi-pass" for both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show for $9.99US. This gets you the current episode, and sets up iTunes to automatically download future episodes as they become available (up to 16 episodes). Think of it as a paid podcast.
Screech in iTunes
It's "new content Tuesday" in the iTunes Music Store, and this week season 1 of Saved by the Bell [link] has been made available. Screech on your iPod...isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse? Also added to the store's video offerings are the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit videos [link], some great, old Schoolhouse Rock clips [link] and a premiere episode of Comedy Central's Drawn Together [link]
Comedy Central bumps Lost for top spot in iTunes
Sorry, Lost. Comedy Central's stand-up clips [link] are performing very well in the iTunes Music Store. In fact, Dane Cook's episode currently has the top spot for videos. I've purchased Dane's show, as well as Lewis Black's. They're fun to watch while you're bored to tears standing in line at the bank. A note to Comedy Central: Please add Ron White![Via Tunevision]
