DirecTV loses MTV, BET, VH1, Nick and Comedy Central

Category: News Wire Published on Wednesday, 11 July 2012 13:46 Written by scaR Hits: 305

DirectTV subscribers are without mainstream channels the likes of MTV, BET, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Talks have broken down with content provider Viacom. While the big five are easily noticeable, in total there are over twenty channels that have gone dark. Viacom maintains that they have been underpaid in the past due to a 7 year deal giving them below market royalties. Their demands have been for a 30% increase. That works out to an extra one billion in royalties. Viacom internal statistics reveal that their content is watched by 20% of subscribers.

Derek Chan, DirecTV Executive stated, "We have absolutely no problem compensating Viacom fairly, but the ratings for many of their main networks have plummeted and much of Viacom's programming can be seen for free online." Both sides have taken to the web in an effort to inform their customers of the corporate wrangling taking place. You can view DirecTV's stance at http://www.directvpromise.com. Viacom's side of it can be seen at http://whendirectvdrops.com

[ source : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303740704577520483726195726.html ]