AT&T adds 6 MTV Networks HD channels to U-verse

MtvNetworks posts

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.
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.
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.
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]
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]
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.








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