AfterDawn: News

Microsoft and Viacom sign $500 million Web & TV deal

In a huge entertainment deal, Microsoft and Viacom will be joining up on both the web and Viacom's broadband network for at least the next five years.

Although the exact financial terms were not released, Microsoft officials have projected a base value of over $500 million USD "in financial considerations and business services over the first five years of the pact, including revenue sharing provisions, guarantees, and content licensing agreements."



The agreements also "contemplate the potential for expansion of the contracts," said Microsoft.

One of the major components of the pact is that Viacom will "work with Microsoft on opportunities to become a preferred publishing partner across Microsoft's casual gaming platforms," according to a Microsoft statement. Microsoft will license long and short form TV and movie content from Viacom's cable and movie sectors on a non-exclusive basis.

Microsoft will also purchase advertising on Viacom's broadcast and online networks. Finally, the companies will join together to promote Viacom's MTV Networks and BET Networks award show.

Source:
Betanews

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Dec 2007 18:03

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• 7 comments

• sciascia

  Hmm, Microsoft is getting into bed with Viacom. I hate to say this, but they've taken the first step in proving Michael Bay correct when he ran his mouth about HDDVD a while back.

  20.12.2007 11:56 #1

• oofRome

  Originally posted by sciascia: Hmm, Microsoft is getting into bed with Viacom. I hate to say this, but they've taken the first step in proving Michael Bay correct when he ran his mouth about HDDVD a while back.Could you elaborate on this a little more?

  20.12.2007 20:46 #2

• sciascia

  Michael Bay completely broke down the hi-def format war recently, claiming that Blu-Ray is indeed the best format, and that Microsoft is not interested in HD-DVD at all and is sort of trying to take them out of the race (by selling X360 HD-DVD add-on drives?) so that they can start making money off of the real next gen format, online HD media.
  
  Atleast that what I remember from the quote, someone with a better memmory please come in and correct me if I'm messing up the gist of his comments.
  
  Now of course I think the guy is speaking out of the wrong end of his body on that one, but this recent deal with viacom has given me second thoughts. Especially since viacom is a heavy weight as far as television goes. Although there is no specifics as far as online content goes, I'm sure if the first few quarters of their partnership goes well, they will expand their relationship even more.

  21.12.2007 00:04 #3

• DVDBack23

  Quote:Originally posted by sciascia: Hmm, Microsoft is getting into bed with Viacom. I hate to say this, but they've taken the first step in proving Michael Bay correct when he ran his mouth about HDDVD a while back.Could you elaborate on this a little more?http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/12099.cfm

  21.12.2007 14:10 #4

• hughjars

  Viacom & Paramount are the same group.
  
  It's no surprise that as partners in HD DVD they are also opening up other areas of business where their interests coincide.
  
  Michael Bay's vision of an imminent downloading future and with (he imagines) Microsoft's sneaky plan - where evil M$ draw out the HD DVD v Blu-ray fight only to exhaust both and get both to fail - is just ridiculous given the reality of connections even in the so-called developed world.
  
  However it is undeniable that downloading is going to be a fast growing and large movie sector; it is inevitable and it is coming.
  
  But it does not make Bay right
  (again we come back to the reality of the average internet connections & bandwidth limits which just make his imagined near-future impossible; we are simply years away from the necessary infrastructure being available in time to effect the HD DVD-v-Blu-ray 'fight')
  
  Which is why Disney and Lionsgate are also involved with Microsoft in downloading to the XBox 360 platform too
  
  (but I guess adding in that reality would just cause Bay & his narrow-minded 'Blu-v-Red' mind-set to melt-down completely).

  21.12.2007 18:53 #5

• oofRome

  The only problem with Bay's claim is that even HD-DVD threw in the towel and blu-ray wins the war, digital downloading is inevitably still going to be the best business model.
  There is no "dirty secret" because most everyone has already predicted it.

  21.12.2007 19:26 #6

• borhan9

  This is a great deal i feel however i think that these two brains are very similar and i feel that this is is going to be full of legislation that at the end of all this it will be a very limited product user.

  28.12.2007 17:43 #7