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US: Viacom, Cablevision settle antitrust dispute

By  |  October 18, 2015

Cablevision Systems and Viacom have settled an antitrust lawsuit in which Cablevision had accused Viacom of forcing distributors and subscribers to buy channels they did not want.

Cablevision and Viacom are simultaneously entering into “mutually beneficial” business arrangements, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday.

No further details of the settlement were disclosed.

Cablevision had accused Viacom of engaging in strong-arm tactics to coerce it into paying for 14 low-rated or obscure “suite networks” if it also wanted eight “core networks”, which including four deemed “commercially critical”: BET, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.

Reuters had reported in September that the two companies were discussing a possible settlement.

Cablevision agreed to a $17.7 billion takeover by European telecommunications company Altice NV in September.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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