AMARILLO,TEXAS -- Suddenlink and Viacom are currently negotiating a new contract, a contract that would allow the cable company to continue to broadcast the television channels owned by Viacom.
Monday, Pete Abel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications released an update on those negotiations, with a plan for customers should the two not be able to reach a compromise.
"As announced on our website earlier this month, we are currently negotiating with Viacom to renew a contract that expires December 31 and covers several cable television networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Comedy Central, Spike TV, VH1, and CMT," said Abel.
Abel went on to say that many of the contracts like this are not negotiated until just before the current contract expires, but that Suddenlink would like to have the deal done well before then. Negotiations are ongoing and they are working with Viacom to establish a new contract with "fair and reasonable terms for their customers," according to Abel.
However, Abel said that if a deal couldn't be reached and Viacom refused to let Suddenlink air the channels, they will reduce customer prices by the cost of the affected channels for the time period those stations are in the dark.
ProNews 7 did email Viacom and requested a statement from them, however, our email was returned.
The channels listed above are those that are typically featured on Suddenlink's widely available "Expanded Basic" service. Other channels affected by these negotiations are featured on incremental, digital service packages and include Logo, Palladia HD, Nick Jr., TeenNick, NickToons, Nick2, MTV Hits, MTV2, MTV Jams, Tr3s, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, and CMT Pure Country.
