Viacom and DirecTV go to war
![A DirecTV satellite dish is attached to a roof at...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AOGU2NjUyOWItZTExMS00%3AZmZmZjQ0%2Fdirectv.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
A DirecTV satellite dish is attached to a roof at a home in Palo Alto, Calif. (May 6, 2010) Credit: AP
And just like that, Viacom and DirecTV are at each other's throats. In a highly unusual broadside, Viacom sent out a blaring message to the press saying that two dozen networks, from MTV to CMT, will be dropped at midnight Tuesday unless .?.?.
Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman said in a blog on the company website, “Our negotiations have reached an impasse; he added that DirecTV -- during its ongoing carriage fee negotiation -- had offered “a lower rate than Viacom receives from any other distributor in the industry.”
DirecTV says: “You won’t lose them unless Viacom chooses to take them away,“ saying Viacom is looking for a 30 percent boost in fees.
And so it goes.