US cablenet Cablevision has openly challenged Viacom’s bundling of lower rated channels with established brands such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
The operator is taking court action against Viacom and what is common practice on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Viacom effectively forces Cablevision’s customers to pay for and receive little-watched channels in order to get the channels they actually want,” Cablevision said in a statement.
Responding, Viacom said “these arrangements have been upheld by a number of federal courts and on appeal.”
The two companies only signed their last carriage agreement in December 2012. Cablevision is now looking to the Manhattan court system to nullify the arrangement, claiming that it is being coerced into carrying unwanted channels.
It names MTV Hits, CMT and Nicktoons among 14 ancillary networks outside of Viacom’s core eight channel portfolio.
As channel providers sought to maintain carriage fees in the digital era they have launched many side channels, repackaging existing material, and keeping hold of valuable EPG real estate that has pushed new entrants to the foot of the grid.
