If you've got DirecTV I don't have to tell you about missing the 26 channels and hundreds of programs from Viacom including "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead" on AMC, and the most trusted names in news, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert on Comedy Central.
BusinessWeek reports that the two sides are close - which doesn't really help you, does it?
You've also probably heard so you don't circumvent DirectTV and ruin the negotiations between the TV equivalents of Godzilla and King Kong, Viacom also had stopped allowing us to stream these programs from their associated Web sites.
It seems these shows have been put back online, though - but you'll have to sit through either a Viacom commercial urging you to rush to their aid to get their channels back or a regular commercial, or both.
But if Viacom continues to futz with official Web access, you can watch full episodes of both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" and most of Comedy Central shows on Hulu ($10/month), as well as some MTV shows such as Beavis & Butthead, usually the day after their air. (While there's an AMC channel on Hulu, it's all clips, promo interviews and trailers.)
For fans of shows on AMC, iTunes already has the first episode of Season 5 of "Breaking Bad" and all of Season 2 of "The Walking Dead," for $3 each on iTunes.
Or, Vudu also has already posted the first episode of the new "Breaking Bad" season; presumably Sunday night's second episode will post post-weekend. Season 5 hasn't posted on Netflix - yet.
True, you already pay for these shows as part of your DirecTV subscription - but would you rather NOT watch these shows?
Plus, the Viacom-DirecTV dispute (and sure to materialize future disputes between other content suppliers and other cable or satellite providers) may energize you to sever relationships with these soon-to-be anachronistic TV delivery middlemen.
But that's a rant for another day.
