Less than 48 hours after they started taking swipes at each other, Time Warner Cable (s TWX) and Viacom (s VIA.b) have kissed and made up. The two parties have reached a deal that would allow Time Warner Cable & Brighthouse Networks’ customers to keep getting Viacom-owned channels such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and VH1. These channels carry shows such as SpongeBob, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.
The two parties struck a deal sometime after midnight, which means no disruptions for TWC customers. The two parties refused to give details of the new arrangement. Well as long as there are no new surprises at the end of the month for TWC, a couch-potato crisis has been averted. According to a report by the Associated Press:
“We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks,” said Glenn Britt, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. “We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation.”
At the close of the year two parties had failed to reach an agreement where Viacom wanted Time Warner to pay it more per-subscriber fees for carrying its content. This would raised monthly bills for the TWC customers by about $3 a month. This would have amounted to about $39 million a year on top of $300 million Viacom already gets from TWC. The decision would have impacted about 13.3 million Time Warner Cable customers along with 2.4 million Brighthouse Networks customers.
TWC customers quickly shared their displeasure on the web and Twitter.
Of course, if you just want to say no to cable forever — I have been living cable free for over a year now — we have a cheat sheet to tell you where to watch your favorite Viacom-owned shows online.
Full Time Warner Cable statement:
Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) jointly announced this morning that they have reached an agreement in principle to renew carriage for Viacom’s MTV Networks. The companies expect to finalize the details of the agreement over the next several days.
Glenn Britt, President and CEO of Time Warner Cable said, “We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks. We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation.”
Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom said, “We’ve been partners with Time Warner Cable for a long time, and we’re happy to be renewing that partnership for the benefit of their customers and our loyal viewers. It’s gratifying that we could reach an agreement that benefits not only our audiences but that is also in the best interest of both of our companies.”
It looks like this negotiation tactic may have worked for Viacom, but the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If they weren’t prepared to walk away from their deal, then they should have kept their mouth shut. Inciting public anger over the issue may end up earning them a couple million more, but it’s a very tacky way to go about getting their way. If their willing to jerk consumers around and publicly embarass their business partners, then I’m not sure that I want to be watching their programming to begin with. In the end, this whole publicity stunt ends up making them both look like a couple of jackasses.