Doing the math on Suddenlink's decision to kick out Viacom: A good call by the cable company [telecom]
FierceCable, October 8, 2014. by Daniel Frankel
According to the story circulating around the cable industry, top Viacom executives were shocked--shocked!--when they called their Suddenlink counterparts at the eleventh hour on Sept. 30 and told them they were finally ready to talk turkey about a new carriage deal.
"They never saw it coming," said a pay-TV executive familiar with the failed negotiations between the St. Louis operator and the global media conglomerate. "Viacom thought it would unfold at the last minute like every other deal. But Suddenlink said, 'I don't think you understand. We gave away your real estate. There's no going back."
With Viacom demanding what sources say was a 50 percent rate increase on perhaps the biggest bundle in pay-TV, the operator had moved on to Plan B. Suddenlink replaced Viacom's 24 networks with a mix of independent channels, such as Glenn Beck's extreme right-wing-focused The Blaze, as well [as] expansions of other conglomerate deals that brought in outlets like FXX and the Oprah Winfrey Network.
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Neal McLain
10-16-14-1340 EDT