Directv dispute with Viacom IS OVER!

[Mr Tony]

Don't they think ALL their channels are major?

guess not

 

[mike123abc]

The WSJ has an article on Viacom's problems http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...91070.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

DIRECTV seemed to be right in saying fewer people were watching the channels. I guess since they probably were not able to rack up a large rate increase with DIRECTV they have turned up the commercials per hour...

Fewer people have been tuning into some of Viacom Inc.'s VIAB +0.88% cable channels over the past year, so the company has turned to a timeworn but controversial method of maintaining ad revenue: adding more commercials.

According to data from TV-research firm Nielsen, the media conglomerate's Nickelodeon and Comedy Central networks boosted the amount of ad time they aired in the first half of 2012 by 9% from a year earlier, to a combined 1,901 hours. That followed a 7% rise in all of 2011 and a 4% rise in 2010, Nielsen found.

Even commercial buyers are starting to worry that viewers will stop watching with so many commercials

Media buyers, however, warn that adding more commercials can alienate both viewers and advertisers. They say that consumers have a certain amount of tolerance for advertisements, but don't like commercial breaks that run on too long. And if the amount of clutter reaches a certain level, commercials won't resonate as well with viewers.

The article currently needs a subscription to view, but probably will be available somewhere free soon.

 

[mike123abc]

More from the WSJ article:

Viacom commercial time before latest increase estimated ranges from 12minute 30 sec for MTV to 16 minutes 8 sec on Nick@Night /hour
ESPN 9 minutes 27 seconds /hour
Discovery 10 min 59 seconds /hour