For the DirecTV audience

DirecTV and Viacom reach deal, end blackout

By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times

July 20, 2012

“There was an increase, but not nearly the increase they were seeking,” DirecTV Executive Vice President Derek Chang said.

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Although programmers and distributors often bicker over new contracts, the Viacom-DirecTV battle was particularly public and nasty. Both companies ran ads blasting each other and their executives took potshots at one another as well.

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When Viacom’s channels went off DirecTV, which is in about 20 million homes, ratings for its networks dropped more than 20% in some cases. The longer the networks were off DirecTV, the more Viacom had at stake.

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DirecTV did get one concession from Viacom. As part of the deal, DirecTV subscribers will now be able to access live feeds of Viacom’s channels on tablets and mobile devices outside the home. This marks the first time that Viacom has agreed to allow such an arrangement with a distributor.

However, Viacom also is likely to continue to put a lot of its television shows on its own websites for free, which was a sore point for DirecTV.