Kotaku: Viacom

Rock Band Devs Getting $300 Million In Bonuses

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:40:00 MST

It will be a very merry Christmas at the Rigopulos and Egozy households this year as the two Harmonix founders are about to have a December to remember — read: a new Lexus for the wife with obligatory gargantuan bow. In addition to rumored Jelly of the Month Club memberships, Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy have been paid a $150 million bonus for "exceeding performance targets" last quarter with Rock Band series.

Another $150 million will be paid to the Harmonix dudes in 2009, making the total... carry the 1... an impressive $300 million in bonuses from owner Viacom.

Given Sumner Redstone's current money issues with his other businesses (Midway, National Amusements) it may seem a little out of whack in terms of fund allocations, but a spokeswoman told Bloomberg "If they are making more money for us and we have to give a little back, that's OK."

Viacom to Pay $300 Million Bonus to `Rock Band' Maker [Bloomberg]

Rock Band Sells 3 Million Games, 10 Million Songs

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Rock Band's new in-game store was introduced for two reasons. One was to make things easier for you as a shopper. The other, more important (for MTV/Harmonix) reason was to make sure you just buy more damn songs. Which seems to have worked a treat, because Viacom have announced that ten million Rock Band songs have now been downloaded, up four million from March 20. Which was only a month-and-a-half ago! They also report that they've sold three million copies of the game itself, which when you consider the vast majority of those would have been bundle sales, is a number that must have the accounts types at Viacom, MTV and Harmonix tickled seven shades of pink.
Rock Band Ships 3 Million; 10 Million Songs Downloaded [GameDaily]

Rock Band Drives Viacom Profits Skyward

Mike Fahey — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:20:00 MDT

Rock Band has been very, very good to MTV parent company Viacom, who announced that first quarter profits rose 33% based mainly off the sales of the sales of the title, along with higher advertising revenue at MTV Networks. The media conglomerate also enjoyed a revenue increase of 15% for the period, surpassing analyst expectations at $3.1 billion. Between having one of the hottest games on the market and their Iron Man movie opening this weekend (saw it last night, and it was amazing!), it's not hard to imagine Viacom's executive chairman Sumner Redstone rocking out to Blue Oyster Cult in celebration, as the Reuters article suggests. What is hard is trying to wipe the mental picture from your head. Thanks a bunch, Reuters.

Viacom rocks with Rock Band [Reuters]
Photo by Lester Cohen of WireImage

Harmonix Respond To Sue Happy Gibson

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Gibson's first lawsuit against Activision was stupid enough, but subsequent filings against retailers and now Harmonix and MTV show they're clearly suffering from a particularly acute case of STUPID LAWSUIT FEVER. Harmonix are having none of it, and have issued a statement claiming Gibson's suit is "completely without merit".

It is unfortunate that Gibson unfairly desires to share in the tremendous success enjoyed by the developers of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. This lawsuit is completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously.
Gibson's patent, filed nearly 10 years ago, required a 3D display, a real musical instrument and a recording of a concert. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are completely different: among other things they are games, require no headset and use a controller only shaped like a real instrument.

[Pic]

Harmonix Gets Bonus For Big Results

torif — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:00:07 MST

Thanks to the immense success of Rock Band, Harmonix has received a $208.7 million bonus in "performance based earnouts" from MTV Games and parent company Viacom. According to Viacom's most recent financial statement, Harmonix was set to receive a bonus in the event of exceeding the expectations of MTV Games. The condition was a part of MTV Games' acquisition agreement with Harmonix back in 2006. Since MTV Games payed $175 million for Harmonix, I'm thinking that they've definitely made their money's worth on both sides of the deal.

Harmonix Earns $208.7 Million Bonus From Viacom [Gamasutra]

Relax, Viacom (Probably) Aren't Buying Take-Two

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:30:00 MST

That rumour yesterday about media giants Viacom swooping for troubled publishing house Take-Two? Most likely bogus. Both Reuters and Variety are pouring cold water on the suggestion, with Variety's Ben Fritz reiterating something we heard a lot of yesterday: if Viacom were going to go for a publisher, it wouldn't be one as costly and cumbersome as Take-Two. It'd be Midway, who are equally vulnerable, and who Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone happens to have a controlling stake in. That and his daughter, Shari Redstone, is chairman (chairlady?) of Midway.
Viacom's not making a bid for Take Two [Variety]

Viacom To Buy Take-Two?

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:30:00 MST

Beleaguered publisher Take-Two haven't had the best few years. Indeed, things have got so bad for the company in these post-Hot Coffee days that the past year or so have seen a metric fuckton of rumours pop up suggesting the company will be swallowed up and bought out. As of today, none have come to pass, and they're still flying solo. But the latest - that Viacom are interested in the company - holds a lot of water. For one, Viacom are looking at getting into the gaming business. Secondly, Take-Two's big-selling properties are original IP, not licensed movie or sports stuff, so there'd be no problems with rival companies for rights. And finally, because Take-Two shareholders are becoming increasingly impatient as they wait for the company to reverse its fortunes.
Viacom looking at Take Two Interactive? [Notable Calls, via GI.biz]

Viacom, Microsoft Forge Alliance To Bring "Cribs" To Xbox 360s

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:20:06 MST

An advertising and content sharing deal between Microsoft and Viacom, valued at some half-billion dollars, could bring even more Paramount, MTV and Comedy Central content to the Xbox Live Marketplace, including the MTV show Cribs, which could qualify as a rare win-win-win. Specifics on the "broad selection" of shows and movies that will be licensed as part of the deal weren't given but Live Marketplace already enjoys plenty of content from MTV, MTV2, VH1, Comedy Central, Spike and other Viacom brands. That content could increase to include the as-yet unavailable via Marketplace housing program Cribs. Yes, Cribs.

While major portions of the deal won't directly impact Xbox 360 owners, as it includes shared advertising revenues and content for MSN and blah blah blah, the prospect of increased Cribs access is too enticing to ignore. I can only hope this alliance will bring the criminally overlooked TV Funhouse to the list of available Comedy Central programs.

Microsoft, Viacom Ink $500 Mil Ad Deal [CNN/Money]

Nickelodeon Invests $100 Million in Casual Games

Mark Wilson — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:40:13 MDT

It's easy to forget that Nickelodeon has money when you're too old for Spongebob, but the Viacom-owned Nickelodeon is dropping $100 million into casual gaming development over the next two years.

While much of the money will develop preschool-oriented content, expect overhauls on Nickelodeon sites Addictinggames.com, Shockwave.com and NeoPets.com. More NeoPets? Sweet. Pokemon rip-off, I choose you!

But when you realize all of those sites are owned by one of the most powerful media conglomerates in the world, it makes you crave something a lot more substantial than Pong repackaged as a soccer ball. Hopefully this $100 million goes to good use and feeds content-starved gamers.
Nickelodeon Commits $100 mln to Casual [nextgen]

Editorial: Why MTV Won't Buy 1Up

Brian Crecente — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:00:33 MST

I'm just a simple country blogger, but despite recent rumors about Viacom buying out all or part of Ziff Davis Game Group, I just don't see it happening.

There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them is the fact that ZD has tied their print magazines to the deal. In other words, if you don't buy EGM and Games for Windows you can't buy 1Up.

This may seem like a negotiable point, but Ziff Davis isn't stupid and they know that they can't sell the magazines alone, especially in today's anti-print environment, so they are tying it to their very valuable 1Up property.

What that means is that any buyer who wants to cut a deal with Ziff Davis is going to have to do one of three things: Run the magazines, count on flipping them (which is very risky), or buy em up and then shut them down and take the loss on the chin.

So why can't Viacom do this?

Well they could, but they probably won't. They don't have any interest in print so why would they saddle themselves with some magazines? And they have this little issue called shareholders, who aren't going to sit quietly by while their money is sunk into something that is going to be torpedoed immediately or be hopefully sold off eventually.

If someone is going to jump at this deal, and I'm sure someone will, it will be someone in the publishing business already. So the next time you walk by a magazine rack, take a careful look, one of those magazines is about to get a couple of siblings. Brian Crecente