Viacom, cable companies reach new deal

Published 11:40 am Wednesday, April 2, 2014

TV

Channels owned by Viacom Inc. remained on the cable channel lineup in Vicksburg through the end of contract talks Monday following a new agreement announced Tuesday between the conglomerate and cable providers nationwide.

An agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to keep carrying the company’s networks covers more than 800 member companies, according to a news release from the Kansas-based cable co-op issued Tuesday.

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“Viacom is and remains one of NCTC’s largest content providers and we are pleased to have reached an agreement that will provide opportunities for our members to distribute their content over multiple platforms,” said Judy Meyka, executive vice president of programming, in a statement.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The agreement kept MTV, TV Land, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 and BET on Vicksburg Video’s basic cable lineup of channels. A four-year contract to provide shows on those channels ended Monday.

“We’re grateful to have reached an agreement with NCTC that will allow millions of viewers nationwide to continue to enjoy our programming,” said Denise Denson, Viacom’s executive vice president of content distribution and marketing. “We commend NCTC for collaborating with Viacom to reach a fair deal that puts viewers first.”

Little Rock, Ark.-based Vicksburg Video had cited higher monthly costs to keep carrying Viacom channels as a reason to drop the six channels. Vicksburg Video has about 8,000 or so customers inside the city limits.