Viacom has figuratively taken their ball and left. Radar reports that contract negotiations between Viacom and Time Warner have stalled resulting in 19 channels going dark on Jan. 1st. These include 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; Vh1 Soul.
Viacom wants a higher fee for letting Time Warner air its content and claims its justified based on the increased profits Time Warner sees from their stations. The cable company, on the other hand, argues that customers will foot the bill. Thus, Viacom and Time Warner are at a standstill.
Interestingly enough, Viacom thinks more brands want to advertise on their networks. Apart from The Hills whose viewership is declining, they have nothing of major interest unless you really love watching reruns of CSI on Spike (maybe Comedy Central for South Park and Colbert). The only inconvenience to me is that I have to reprogram my TV to skip those channels. In any case, Viacom can go F themselves. Not because they’re forcing 19 channels off the air, but because The Hills and Sweet Sixteen are abominations which should have been killed off much like the Spartans did with their deformed babies.
Above is a Viacom sponsored video telling you to bug Time Warner to get your channels back. I’m sure those five calls Time Warner receives will be really effective.