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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.

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    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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