In late February it became known that cable provider Cablevision was suing Viacom over alleged anti-competitive activities involving the bundling of television channels. Viacom blasted the lawsuit as little more than a “transparent attempt […] to renegotiate our existing two month old agreement [with Cablevision].” Cablevision continues to pursue the lawsuit. Today its complaint against Viacom – a mildly redacted copy – was released. Viacom has several tiers of content, including the Tying Networks, the Core Networks, and the Suite Networks. The Tying channels are the largest, and most commercially critical. Think of Comedy Central, and so forth. All Tying channels are part of the Core channels. The Core channels are therefore must-carries for Cablevision. The Suite channels are lower-value, given their lesser viewership.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.