
First, let me say that EA is doing the right thing. Not only is it proper strategy to establish a bit of real estate in this hands-on, musical genre, but dealing with MTV brings a lot of benefits. You just know that the music channel will leverage its broadcast assets to maximize the promotional value for Rock Band.
Second, I'd say that Activision shareholders maybe should worry -- but only in a small, healthy way. Having a little competition around might not be such a bad thing. The publisher knows it's going to have to pull out all the stops to ensure that its next Guitar Hero game, which is being developed by Neversoft, will still appeal to its hardcore base as well as a whole host of new groupies. Still, when the creator of Guitar Hero takes the playing field to the next level, you know a lot of mindshare will be focused on the competing product.