1/1/2009

in

Time Warner and Viacom finally reach a decision.

Brittany Proudfoot

Time Warner and Viacom have finally reached a deal. Well, for the time being at least.  
  
According to the *New York Daily News*, programming giant Viacom and Time Warner Cable came to a midnight agreement that kept 19 popular channels on the air including Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, and Noggin.  
  
Although the terms of this agreement weren't disclosed, the deal ended what could have been a potentially horrible blackout of popular channels to more than 15 million customers. The spat began when Viacom accused Time Warner of not paying enough for their shows while Time Warner complained that Viacom was using customers to pick up the slack for shrinking ad dollars. Viacom was asking for about 23 cents more per month from each of their over 13 million subscribers. Those numbers add up to almost $35 million a year in extra money to go to the programming company.  
  
Thankfully for those families using Time Warner Cable, they will be keeping Spongebob, Jon Stewart, and the Backyardigans for a little while longer.