New Year, new deal for Time Warner and Viacom
US viewers get SpongeBob Savedpants
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Time Warner Cable customers have been saved - they'll still be able to watch SpongeBob Squarepants and other shows from Viacom.
The cable company carries 19 channels from Viacom including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, but was refusing to pay increased fees for them.
However, the two companies said yesterday that they have now agreed in principle to renew the carriage deal, although financial details still need to be sorted out.
Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable, welcomed the agreement and apologised to customers for suffering a day of uncertainty.
It is good they made up so quickly - on New Year's Eve Time Warner was accusing Viacom of "trying to extort another $39m annually - on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars our customers already pay... it is particularly outrageous given the current economic conditions."
Viacom's best known shows include The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Dora the Explorer. ®
COMMENTS
@kissingthecarpet
"I know it sounds like an advert for them, but when I compare it to the days of 3,4,5 channels not even on 24/7 its a huge improvement."
Not by any definition of "improvement" extant in the English language.
Too much evil from Vilecon already
<breathless raving rant>
There really is no good way to get TV in the US-all cable systems are overpriced, only feature about half the channels in digital, and charge out the ass ("Suddenlink" is a prime example, as well as a stupid name), pay satellite is cheaper but forces you into a contract forever and requires you to get the most expensive package just to get the three channels you actually want. The only semi-decent option is FTA satellite, and that usually requires a big dish and has a limited selection of channels-as a lot of channels available for free elsewhere (eg; History) are scrambled here in the states.
With that in mind it seems totally pointless for so-called content providers to charge the cable companies more, as they'll just pass the inflated price right on to their customer's already over-inflated bills. Such behavior is especially unwarranted out of Viacom(I suggest the new name of "Vilecon")-haven't they already been evil enough lately with the YouTube fiasco?
Most importantly, why the hell are we PAYING TO WATCH THEIR DAMN COMMERCIALS?
</breathless raving rant>
Re: Another problem
US cable may be crap, but my Virgin cable is pretty good. Yes, there is a load of shite on but also a lot of good stuff. There is an EPG and the ability to automatically change to the desired programme when it comes on. So you spend a short time reviewing whats on & setting up reminders. The more channels, the more chance of a good programme being on at any time. Although there are fewer rubbish channels than you get on Sky.There's also the iPlayer, and several other channels equivalent thrown in & an 'archive' of older stuff.
I know it sounds like an advert for them, but when I compare it to the days of 3,4,5 channels not even on 24/7 its a huge improvement.
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