Wednesday, May 23, 1:47 PM
AMC Networks' (AMCX -0.1%) Mad Men ratings have been soaring, and Netflix (NFLX +3%), which last year struck a costly deal to carry old episodes, is taking credit. The 1.1M viewer increase seen for the debut episode of Season 5 relative to Season 4's average is the result of viewers watching earlier seasons on Netflix, suggests content chief Ted Sarandos. His comments come as many suspect Netflix is hurting ratings for Disney (DIS) and Viacom's (VIA) kids TV shows.
4 Comments[Tech, Consumer]
Wednesday, May 16, 2:05 PM
Shares of Viacom (VIA +3.0%) move up after Eagle Capital's Merly Witmer comes out with positive comments on the name at the Ira Sohn Conference. It won't be the last stock to catch a reaction emanating from the hedge fund manager confab. Still on tap: David Einhorn 3:05 PM EST (HLF?), Bill Ackman 5:30 PM.
Comment![Consumer, On the Move, Healthcare]
Thursday, May 3, 6:02 PM
Netflix (NFLX -7.6%) closed at levels last seen in early January after Viacom (VIA, VIAB) stated on its FQ2 earnings call Epix's movies will be available on Netflix "under any circumstance," but other streaming partners might also be added. Last week, it was reported Apple (AAPL) is talking to Epix, which Viacom co-owns with LGF and MGM, about a streaming deal. Netflix's exclusivity ends in September.
8 Comments[Tech, On the Move]
Monday, April 30, 6:42 PM
Trade association DEG estimates U.S. spending on Blu-ray purchases and rentals rose 23% in Q1, which allowed total sales of physical media to fall just 0.6% Y/Y in spite of slumping DVD demand. This, along with growing spending on digital downloads and streaming, allowed an industry that has been slumping for several years to deliver a 2.5% sales increase. (previous)
Comment![Consumer, Tech]
Friday, April 27, 4:24 PM
Apple (AAPL) recently began talks with premium TV channel Epix (owned by VIA, LGF, and MGM) over a deal to stream movies to Apple TV set-top boxes and a future TV set, Reuters reports. Netflix (NFLX) currently has exclusive rights to streaming Epix movies, but that deal ends in September, and a new one is expected to be costly. Apple previously was rumored to be interested in exclusive rights to the English Premier League.
6 Comments[Tech]
Thursday, April 26, 12:22 PM
Netflix's (NFLX -1.1%) streaming service cut into ratings for kids shows from Disney (DIS +1.1%) and Viacom (VIA -0.1%) in Q1, according to analysis from Sanford Bernstein. The two companies now face a bit of a conundrum - do they pull their premium kids programming off of Netflix and make the service less compelling or ring in the extra ~$75M in annual revenue the NFLX arrangement delivers?
1 Comment[Consumer]
Wednesday, April 4, 8:24 AM
Don Corleone comes to YouTube (GOOG) after the company lines up a deal with Paramount Pictures (VIA) that flies in the face of ongoing litigation between the two firms over patent infringement. The new licensing arrangement adds another 500 titles to YouTube's arsenal of full-length features.
Comment![Tech]
Sunday, March 4, 4:53 AM
Viacom (VIA) Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone will after all attend the company's annual meeting on Thursday after the firm initially said he had an "unavoidable conflict" that would stop him traveling to New York from California for the event. That intial news prompted speculation about the health of Redstone, who's 88.
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Friday, March 2, 12:40 PM
Yahoo (YHOO) has struck a deal to distribute a new comedy series called Burning Love, which will be co-produced by Paramount (VIA) and a studio owned by Ben Stiller. Yahoo's move is the latest in a string of announcements from major Internet companies related to investments in original video content featuring top talent.
Comment![Tech]
Tuesday, February 21, 1:28 PM
Rap mogul Sean Combs will tomorrow unveil Revolt, a music-focused cable channel that's said to be "influenced by the nonstop chatter of social networking Web sites." Comcast (CMCSA) has already agreed to carry Revolt, which represents fresh competition for Viacom's (VIA, VIAB) MTV, while Time Warner Cable (TWC) is said to be in talks to do so. The channel might launch at year's end.
1 Comment[Consumer]
Wednesday, February 8, 1:18 PM
Netflix (NFLX -2.6%) slumps after Amazon (AMZN) announces its anticipated Prime Video deal with Viacom (VIA, VIAB). The deal adds over 2K titles from cable networks such as Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central, and boosts the size of Amazon's library to 15K (Netflix has 20K+). Ryan Lawler believes Prime Video now looks like a real competitor to Netflix, but thinks a standalone service is needed.
1 Comment[Tech, On the Move]
Wednesday, February 8, 6:41 AM
Amazon (AMZN) plans to announce a deal with Viacom (VIA, VIA.B) to launch an online subscription service this week, according to Reuters. The move follows up on hints dropped by Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman last week on a CC.
Comment![Tech]
Thursday, February 2, 1:48 PM
Is Netflix (NFLX) taking a toll on Viacom's (VIA, VIA.B) Nickelodeon unit? Multiple analysts think so, after slumping ratings for the kids TV channel, whose older shows are streamed on Netflix, contributed to an FQ1 earnings decline. However, CEO Philippe Dauman claims there hasn't been a large increase in the Netflix streaming of Nickelodeon shows, and blames the ratings drop on Nielsen's methodology. (earlier)
3 Comments[Tech, Consumer]
Thursday, February 2, 12:51 PM
Viacom (VIA, VIA.B) CEO Philippe Dauman mentions during his company's FQ1 earnings call it plans to announce a new online content licensing deal next week, and analysts suspect Amazon (AMZN) will be the licensee. Dauman also says Viacom, which recently launched an in-house animation unit, has little interest in renewing a movie distribution deal with Dreamworks (DWA) that's set to expire later this year.
1 Comment[Consumer, Tech]
