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"Twenty-million satellite television subscribers nationwide are about to lose TV networks like TV Land, Nickelodeon and MTV, which are all owned by Viacom Inc. After seven years in contract with each other, Viacom and DirecTV, the largest satellite carrier, couldn&amp;#039;t come to an agreement on future business together. As a result, all Viacom affiliates were blacked out for DirecTV users this morning.  The legal bond between Viacom and DirecTV ended at midnight, but that wasn&amp;#039;t the only reason audiences went without their morning music videos on VH1. Distributors like DirecTV have to pay a fee to media companies in order to carry certain channels. In this case, DirecTV found Viacom&amp;#039;s fee was too high in comparison to the content offered. DirecTV Executive Vice President Derek Change stated that Viacom wanted viewers &amp;quot;to pay more than a 30% increase, which equates to an extra $1 billion&amp;quot; toward the fee, adding that it&amp;#039;s a lofty price consider &amp;quot;that the ratings for many of [Viacom] main networks have plummeted.&amp;quot;  The cost and content issue also involves the bundle practice, which allows media companies to sell their stations as packages rather than individual channels. For example, Viacom sells MTV along with its sister networks, MTV 2 and MTV Hits, which have a lower viewership. DirecTV, along with other cable distributors, seek to dismantle these bundles and leave it up to the costumer to choose their stations.  As the saga continues, a compromise is still under wraps\u2014or might not be an option at all. This is just another challenge in the relationship between cable providers and media networks. Earlier this month, DISH, another satellite outlet, lost AMC Networks, home of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, due to a contract dispute.  You might be thinking what we&amp;#039;re thinking\u2014hopefully a settlement will happen before the Hot in Cleveland season premiere in November! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a47197/directv-drops-viacom-channels/>