Another win for fledgling premium net Epix HD: a deal with Dish Network to offer the service to those of its 14.1 million customers who subscribe to HD. It’s the first national deal for the net, which already has signed up *Charter*, Cox , Verizon FiOS, Mediacom and NCTC. When…

Yesterday the Viacom (NYSE: VIA) board announced a five-year contract extension for CEO Philippe Dauman through 2016 and now that the SEC filing has been made we know about the compensation that goes with it. Effective Jan. 1, Dauman got a $1 million raise to $3.5 million from $2.5 million.…

Scant hours before Google (NSDQ: GOOG) releases earnings, Viacom (NYSE: VIA) has released another batch of just-unsealed documents in its $1 billion lawsuit against the company. The last batch revealed considerable discussion at YouTube about how to deal with video uploaded sans permission and an awareness of how such content…

Following an extension that keeps Leslie Moonves at CBS (NYSE: CBS) through 2015, Sumner Redstone has locked in longtime friend and adviser Philippe Dauman as CEO of Viacom (NYSE: VIA) through 2016. Dauman’s previous contract was through 2011; his new contract adds another five years. Dauman was already on the…

Ben Silverman is partnering with Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, In The Heights author Quiara Alegria Hudes, Objective Entertainment and Procter & Gamble Productions to develop a new telenovela for MTV, Pedro & Maria. Silverman will be producing the series through his production company Electus, with Ferrera producing through her…

Less than two months after RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) and MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) announced plans to spin off the veteran subscription music, Rhapsody is now on its own. It’s a little like a kid graduating from college with uncertain prospects: the college grad still has the same parents but their…

MTVN’s Spike TV is finally giving fans of The Ultimate Fighter reality series the chance to watch full episodes from the past 11 seasons with today’s site relaunch. The complete overhaul of UltimateFighter.com is part of a formal partnership with The Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a completely new site,…

In the second set of documents released today from Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against Google (NSDQ: GOOG) over YouTube’s posting of its copyrighted works, e-mails among the video site’s three primary founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawad Karim, demonstrate the debates the trio had over how to handle unauthorized…

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) attorneys argue in the trove of documents unsealed in the long-running legal battle between YouTube and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) that while Viacom “now insists that YouTube is liable because it should have recognized that their content was not authorized, plaintiffs’ own actions defeat that claim.” Specifically, Google…

Barring a last-minute fix or change of strategy, at midnight Tuesday Hulu.com will switch from a co-host for online video of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report to a referral engine for the popular shows. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) execs like to call it a test but…

The other day, MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) Judy McGrath was asked about the company’s image in the age of the Jersey Shore, and she talked about reality shows hooking younger viewers, which is the ultimate focus for the network. Today, at the Billboard Music & Money Symposium, Billboard’s Antony Bruno…

It’s not the end of online access to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert but next week tracking them down may be a little less convenient for those used to watching on Hulu. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) is removing Comedy Central from the ad-supported video portal at 11:59 p.m. March 9 after…

In an interview with NYT TV reporter Bill Carter at the Paley Center, MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) CEO Judy McGrath insisted that despite appearances, TV viewing is still up among its young viewers. Carter prefaced his question about whether online was cannibalizing TV with an anecdote about his own kids…

As MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) ad execs begin meeting with marketers and media buyers for this year’s upfront, the Viacom unit is putting some finishing touches on reshaping its digital team. Later this morning, MTVN will announce that Suzanne McDonnell (image, left) will lead the Digital Fusion unit, while Heather…

With online ad spending slowly coming back from last year’s weakness, MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) hopes to see a further boost in revenues by adding deeper ad targeting across its vast 200 websites. The Viacom unit has been testing a variety of audience monitors for most of the past year…

MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) CEO Judy McGrath says the Viacom unit’s organic growth is “great,” despite its continued signs of weakness as detailed last week in parent company Viacom’s Q4 earnings. The company was hit by the soft ad market as well as lower sales of Rock Band bundles. In…

Viacom (NYSE: VIA), which has seen sales of its Rock Band franchise slow amid the gaming slump, is asking for a refund on its 2007 earnout payment to the Harmonix founders, according to a company 10-K filed earlier today. In October 2006, Harmonix, developer of the Rock Band franchise, was…

Viacom’s profits rose significantly in Q4, as the company posted modest revenue and advertising declines, beating analysts’ expectations. Global ad revenues fell 3 percent, while U.S. ad dollars slipped 4 percent, held down by slight weakness in the Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment segments. The Media Networks’ operating income grew…

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* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

The groundwork has already been laid and now it’s official: RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) is spinning off music service Rhapsody in the hopes of giving both companies a better chance at success. Real will reduce its interest in the Rhapsody America joint venture to below 50 percent to match Viacom’s, giving…