Many May Be Left Wanting For Their MTV

Dispute Over Fees Paid To Viacom By Time Warner Cable Could Cut Off 13 Million Customers From Popular Channels

(AP)  "SpongeBob SquarePants" may be getting squeezed off Time Warner Cable.

Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark for 13 million subscribers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable is not agreed upon by then.

The impasse would mean "SpongeBob" and other popular shows like Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" will be cut off, said spokesman Alex Dudley, a vice president at Time Warner Cable. The nation's second-largest cable operator primarily serves customers in the Carolinas, New York state, Ohio, Southern California and Texas.

Viacom has asked for fee increases of between 22 percent and 36 percent per channel, an amount that could increase customers' cable bills, Dudley said. Viacom spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew said the requested increase was in the very low double-digit percentage range.

"The issue is that they have asked for an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees and their network ratings are sagging," Dudley said. "Basically we're trying to hold the line for our customer."

Viacom said the increases would cost an extra 23 cents a month per subscriber - which works out to $35.9 million more in total. It said that Americans spend a fifth of their TV time watching Viacom shows but its fees make up less than 2.5 percent of the Time Warner cable bill.

"We make this request because Time Warner Cable has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long," it said.

"Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued - over less than a penny per day - we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous," it said.

Negotiations are continuing at the highest level, Dudley said.

Viacom accused Time Warner Cable of not negotiating.

"It is our sincere hope that they will come to the table and negotiate a deal," said McAndrew. The network operator also intends to tell viewers about the dispute in TV ads in 11 major markets.

Part of the disagreement is that most of the popular shows are rerun on Web sites where Viacom collects advertising revenue that it does not share with Time Warner, Dudley said.

"We don't think that's fair," he said. "They're trying to have their cake and eat it too online, where anybody can get it for free."

Viacom has staked much of its revenue-growth prospects on its ability to extract higher carriage rates out of its cable and satellite affiliates despite an ad slowdown and weak ratings.

In the third quarter, media network revenue, which accounts for about two-thirds of the total, grew 6 percent to $2.1 billion, despite global ad revenue falling 2 percent, largely because of double-digit percentage growth in affiliate fees and the success of its "Rock Band" video game.

Viacom shares rose 69 cents, or 3.7 percent, to close at $19.26 on Tuesday, while Time Warner Cable shares added $1.56, or 7.7 percent, to $21.76.

The channels that would be affected are: Comedy Central, CMT: Pure Country, Logo, Palladia, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick 2, Nicktoons, Spike, The N, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul.

Pop-up alerts on "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show" Web sites Wednesday morning informed fans that Time Warner Cable customers will lose Comedy Central shows soon and urged them to call the cable company and protest the change.

[rushman71]

Honestly, I don''t want my MTV!!! Ever since they stopped doing what the channel was specifically designed for--MUSIC VIDEOS!!!

[jojo10002]

I already pay for cable then all the companies invovled get paid for the excessive amount of commercials on all cable stations. 80% of their late night programming is paid infommercials which they get paid for even though no one that pays for cable wants to watch them.I have decided to cancel my cable and start reading good books and best of all no commericials

[walt1944-2009]

Three years ago, I lost my job and couldn''t afford cable TV. I went back to good, old-fashioned "RABBIT EARS" and have since refused to go back to "pay TV" again!

Thanks to cable, TV was running our lives, and not having it has been a real BLESSING! Sure, there are channels and programs I miss, but now I can go online and catch any episodes I miss, or buy the DVD.

And now with the "DIGITAL REVOLUTION" hitting TV, we are getting 26 channels and counting with cable-like reception, and we AREN''T paying $100 to $130 a month to a GREEEEDY cable company like Comcast or Time Warner!

So, if you people want to waste your money and make the cable companies rich, it''s your, soon-to-be-theirs, money. Otherwise, get a $40 coupon from the government, get a digital converter and a "smart" indoor antenna to lock the digital signals in (the digital signal drifts and you will be continually adjusting rabbit ears!), then sit back and watch FREE TV!!!!!

SIG HEIL, YOU MEAN I FINALLY DID SOMETHING RIGHT???, BUSH!!!

[pqsbabygirl]

i am saddened. 95% of the shows i watch are on these channels. my son and i watch Nick Jr. together (no comments from ridiculous people saying i shouldnt let my son watch tv) i work 40+ hours a week and pay all my bills on time. why shouldnt i be allowed to watch what i want IF I AM PAYING FOR IT???? 23 extra cents, whoopee. big deal. Oh well, this just makes me more inclined to dropkick TW and go with dish network =)

[DocD--2008]

The loss of Viacom would be a great present! Send those idot greedy butt heads packing. Their shows suck anyway!

[gprtracy]

I don''t want to lose my channels. There should be a way to let us pick and pay for the channels we want. I don''t agree with raising the bill, but 19 channels is a lot, is the bill going to be lowered any? Doubt it. I''ve been trying to call Time Warner all day and they obviously have their phone off the hook.

Hmm...no problems with my DTV setup. I pay less to DTV for more channels than I ever did with TW. Their price structure is ridiculous!

[cbscrash072]

You can buy these shows on Itunes with no commercials. We should all call our cable companies and demand these channels be dropped.

[cbscrash072]

Frankly these stations should be free. I''m sick of paying for cable that includes a bunch of channels that spend most of their time playing commercials. A 26 percent increase for a channel that makes a good chunk of change from ads is ridiculous. Let them loose 13 million viewers and let us see how that reduces their income. Viacom can blow me.

[shanev137]

What in the hell is 23 cents a month to anyone?

Why is this even news?