Under pressure to boost its revenue amid an advertising slump and threats to its business model posed by the rise of the Internet, Viacom is seeking fee increases of between 22% and 36% per channel from Time Warner Cable, which is the fourth-largest video distributor in the U.S. after Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) and DISH Network Corp. (DISH).

Cable companies are fending off similar bids from broadcast and cable networks throughout the industry. Stations owned by broadcaster LIN TV Corp. (TVL) went dark on Time Warner Cable for four weeks in October as the two sides wrangled over fees, and Univision Communications Inc., CBS Corp. (CBS), NBC Universal, Hearst-Argyle Television Inc. (HTV) and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI) all are engaged in similar negotiations.

“As advertising dollars continue to shift to the Web and DVR viewing increases, both broadcasters and cable network owners need the contractual flow of affiliate fee revenues to be an increasing contributor to the business model, ” said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson. “Viacom’s cable networks are materially underpriced relative to their peers, which we believe represents an opportunity for Viacom in the future.”

Shares of Viacom closed Tuesday at $19.26, down 56% for 2008, while Time Warner Cable shares were down 21% for the year at $21.76. The two sides were holding high-level negotiations on New Year’s Eve in an attempt to head off a threatened service disruption after midnight.

Viacom’s bid to get higher fees from Time Warner Cable is perhaps the highest- profile negotiation yet, since its networks are among the most popular on cable television, with shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. According to Nathanson, its cable networks account for 25% of total cable network viewers every day and 20% in prime time.

press release from Viacom:

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The move by Time Warner Cable to force such channels as Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL and MTV off the air is another example of a cable company overreaching for profit at the expense of its viewers.

The renewal we are seeking is reasonable and modest relative to the profits TWC enjoys from our networks. We have asked for an increase of less than 25 cents per month, per subscriber, which adds up to less than a penny per day for all 19 of MTV Networks’ channels.

We make this request because TWC has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long. Americans spend more than 20% of their TV viewing time watching our networks, yet our fees amount to less than 2.5% of what Time Warner generates from their average customer.

Throughout the country, we have negotiated equitable license agreement renewals, or are in the final stages of renewals, with virtually every cable and satellite carrier. Nevertheless, Time Warner Cable has dismissed our efforts at a fair compromise and has effectively chosen to deny its customers some of the most popular TV shows on the air.

As a result, we are sorry to say that for Time Warner Cable customers our networks will go dark as of 12:01 on January 1st, denying Time Warner customers shows like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, and The Hills.

Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued — over less than a penny per day — we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous. Time Warner Cable subscribers who are being handed a January 1st $3 monthly increase in Raleigh, Orange County, Los Angeles, and New York City are simultaneously facing the removal of beloved shows across 19 channels.

We find it a shame that Time Warner Cable remains unreasonable at this time. We hope its leadership will have a change of heart and will seek to negotiate a fair renewal agreement.

statement from TWC:

MTV Networks may pull its channels from your lineup on January 1st.

• MTV Networks wants our customers to pay millions more.  They are currently demanding price increases that are nearly triple the rate of increase under our current agreement. These increases would be excessive even in a strong economy, but given the current conditions, it’s simply not fair to our customers.

• MTV’s demands are outrageous and would force our customers to pay millions of dollars more per year. MTV’s networks are not worth so much more today than they were yesterday, especially given the fact that their ratings are mostly declining in recent years.

• Much of their popular programming is also available for free online. In this economy, we don’t believe it’s appropriate to ask our customers to pay so much more for programming with declined ratings or that’s available for free.

• We’ve successfully negotiated hundreds of programming agreements with other cable networks, many within the last few months. Our hope is that we will come to an agreement with MTV Networks that is fair to our customers.

Little is known about the Cloud People of Peru, an ancient, white-skinned civilisation wiped out by disease and war in the 16th century.

But now archaeologists have uncovered a fortified citadel in a remote mountainous area of Peru known for its isolated natural beauty.

The magnetosphere is a bubble of magnetism that surrounds Earth and protects us from solar wind. Exploring the bubble is a key goal of the THEMIS mission, launched in February 2007. The big discovery came on June 3, 2007, when the five probes serendipitously flew through the breach just as it was opening. Onboard sensors recorded a torrent of solar wind particles streaming into the magnetosphere, signaling an event of unexpected size and importance.

Raeder explains:

“We’re entering Solar Cycle 24. For reasons not fully understood, CMEs in even-numbered solar cycles (like 24) tend to hit Earth with a leading edge that is magnetized north. Such a CME should open a breach and load the magnetosphere with plasma just before the storm gets underway. It’s the perfect sequence for a really big event.”

The central bank typically sets a specific target for its federal funds rate instead of a range. The rate had previously been at 1% and this marks the first time the Fed has cut rates below 1%. Most investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates to either 0.25% or 0.5%.

The federal funds rate is an overnight lending rate used as a benchmark to set rates for a variety of loans, including adjustable rate mortgages, credit cards, home equity lines of credit and business loans. This marks the tenth time it has cut rates in the last 15 months.

Several banks announced they were lowering their prime rate to 3.25% in light of the Fed’s decision. Typically, the prime rate is 3 percentage points higher than the fed funds rate. It was 4% before Tuesday’s rate cut.

Because of that, the Hemlock Semiconductor Group has been able to raise $3 billion to expand the production of polysilicon at two major manufacturing sites. The group will invest that money to build a new factory in Clarksville, Tenn., and to add to another one in Hemlock, Mich.

In a ruling that could make legal and internet history, a Supreme Court judge ruled last week lawyers could use the social networking site to serve court notices.

Email and even mobile phone text messages have been used before to serve court notices, but the Canberra lawyers who secured the ruling are claiming service by Facebook as a world first.

Apparently, these screenshots are written to memory, and can be accessed by law enforcement officials to incriminate the guilty.

ChaCha.com is basically like ask Jeeves, but on your phone. You can text ChaCha any question and get a text reply answer.

Chikka allows you to send texts messages from your pc.

You can also send text from your pc if you know what carrier your friend is with, using your e-mail:

T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
Cingular: phonenumber@cingularme.com
Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

This months’ Consumer Reports magazine says carriers are charging way too much for text-messaging service. Consumers Union, which publishes the monthly magazine, has asked federal officials to investigate text-messaging rates.