Time Warner subscribers almost, almost lost some of the best cable networks if a deal hadn’t been struck by the time the NYE ball dropped. Thankfully, Viacom and Time Warner came together in the name of the subscribers (and money) and penned an agreement in principle that will keep Dora and Stewart on the air.
The whole dispute came about as Viacom claims that their key stations – MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, SpikeTV, Nickelodeon, and Noggin – account for 20% of the providers viewing but Viacom isn’t compensated as such. So, long story short, the network wanted 23 cents more per subscriber to keep the stations on their air which works out to be between $35 to $40 million more a year in Viacom’s coffers.
Thankfully an unannounced deal was made as I can’t imagine recovering from a hangover without MadTV.