Elvis: Viva Las Vegas Blu-ray disc hitting Wal-mart shelves in August
Posts with tag viacom
Paramount payoff confirmed by Viacom earnings report
Although it's all water under the bridge now, we still find it interesting that Viacom's recent earnings statement confirmed that Paramount received compensation for dumping Blu-ray. But contrary to the New York Times article, Variety is reporting that it was only $29 Million, instead of $150 Million. This is of course only cash, and it is still entirely possible that the other $121 Million included future revenues that didn't materialize once things fell apart, but we have a hard time believing Paramount received that much in promotional services or free replication. And while the Warner payoff rumors weren't from a source as sound as the NYT, we'll still be keeping an eye on revenue statements from Engadget and Warner's shared parent company all the same.[Via Format War Central]
Showtime's not worried about the new premium movie channel competition
Don't worry about Showtime, the network insists the threat of a Viacom-MGM-Paramount-Lionsgate premium movie channel is not going to hurt it, and in fact it's "in a better position as a free agent", according to VP Stu Zakim. Multichannel News has word from the corporate PR exec that only two movies ranked among the 20 top rated programs on the network in 2007, and considering the license fees the studios asked, it was better served investing in series development and marketing. We can expect fresh movies on Showtime through 2010-11, but after that it'll be up to remaining partner CBS Films to keep serving up the flicks, but for lovers of Weeds, Californication and Dexter there should be plenty more where that came from.Viacom, Paramount, Lionsgate & MGM team up for new premium channel in '09
by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 20th 2008 at 7:37PM 
Hope you like your movies served fresh on-demand, as Viacom, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM have just announced plans for a new "premium" channel launching fall 2009. Other than having access to Paramount and Paramount Vintage titles released to theaters on or after January 1, 2008, and MGM, United Artist and Lionsgate flicks released after January 1, 2009, the service plans a "robust" VOD component. According to Variety, the big loser here is Showtime, which loses access to several theaters it's depended on for content, and also faces competition for shows like Weeds and Dexter. We're sure no premium movie channel would launch in this day and age without an HD offering, so tell your provider to keep a slot open for this latest addition.
Adobe Media Player & Adobe TV officially launched
Since everyone else is launching a Flash-based video portal, Adobe itself is mixing things up with the AIR-powered Adobe TV. Via the new Adobe Media Player (AMP) 1.0 standalone app, users browse through assorted content from partners like CBS, Universal Music Group, Viacom, PBS or RSS feeds of video podcasts, while the Adobe TV channel itself focuses on how-to content for the company's various tools like Photoshop and Flash. AMP supports up to 1080p, however while ad-support TV content like The Hills and CSI: NY is disappointingly low-res, there are some HD online shows, but the bitrate's so low it's tough to tell if we're getting all the promised pixels. It's a lightweight download, check it out and see how it measures up to Hulu and the rest of the internet challengers.Read - Adobe TV press release
Read - Adobe Media Player press release
Time Warner to carry MHD
Hello MHD: MTV on our HDTVs today
MTV's high-def channel (MHD) coming to Comcast in August?
TVPredictions says yes. Although the network is already available to some Comcast, Time Warner and Charter subscribers, most cable customers don't have the channel yet. According to their source the channel will be added in Philadelphia at the beginning of August, and roll out in other cities shortly afterwards. With the Xbox 360 already available and the PS3 debuting this fall, their 18 to 34 year-old target demographic has an increasing number of reasons to pick up an HDTV and MTV is obviously looking to be at the forefront. MHD getting more exposure on a national level will almost certainly bring more viewers (and subsequently more HD content) than other cable networks making the switch like HGTV and Food Network.A big question is whether this will be in addition to ESPN2-HD or replacing it, with the sports network fading out in many areas post-World Cup the way Universal HD did after the Winter Olympics. While Real World HD would be cool, we need Cribs in high-def so we can look at other people's HDTVs on our HDTVs.
Is MTV's The Real World going high definition?
MTV
announced today that the next season of their granddaddy of reality TV will be shot in Denver, CO. Where is MTV's high
definition station MHD based? Colorado. It makes complete sense to me for
them to use one of their longest running and most popular series (especially since they don't show music videos
anymore) to promote their new station.MTV-HD is on the air
MTV's new high definition channel MHD went live yesterday on Cox Communications and Verizon, it is available in Florida and California only for the moment. Another interesting note is that besides the launch concert featuring the Goo Goo Dolls, MTV has been shooting in high definition with 5.1 surround sound for over a year, building up content for the new network.
Any HDBeat readers notice a new HD channel in their lineup today?
