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Cablevision files antitrust lawsuit against Viacom
2013-02-26 21:35:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Cablevision Systems has filed an antitrust lawsuit Viacom in federal court in Manhattan, for illegally forcing Cablevision to carry and pay for fourteen lesser-watched ancillary networks its customers do not want, such as Palladia, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic, in order to carry must-have networks such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. Cablevision's suit contends that Viacom abused its market power over commercially critical networks to coerce Cablevision into carrying the fourteen far less popular ancillary channels, that Viacom coerced Cablevision by threatening to impose massive financial penalties unless Cablevision complied with Viacom's demands and that Viacom's conduct harms Cablevision and its customers, and impairs competition by making Cablevision pay for and carry networks that many subscribers do not want to watch, while other networks are excluded from distribution, preventing Cablevision from being able to differentiate its services and harming subscribers.
Tags: files
lawsuit
antitrust
viacom
Category:Telecommunications