Suddenlink Communications lost about 6,400 basic video subscribers in the first quarter, a marked improvement over the 35,000 customers it shed in the prior period and adding to what is becoming mounting evidence that its decision to drop Viacom’s 24 youth-oriented channels last year is having a diminished effect.

“We regained our momentum,” Suddenlink CEO Jerry Kent said on a conference call to discuss results. Suddenlink is privately held but reports results publicly as part of an agreement with its bond holders.

While Suddenlink seemed to weather the storm, another cable operator that dropped the Viacom channels saw their subscriber losses rise in the first quarter. Cable One, which dropped the Viacom channels in April 2014, said it shed about 30,000 basic video customers in the period, a 7% decline, and has seen its video customer rolls dwindle about 20% since it dropped the channels.

Suddenlink decided to drop Viacom in October amid what it called unwarranted price increase demands from the home of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 and Spike.  Suddenlink supplemented the loss of those networks by reaching deals with smaller channels that addressed the space, including PBS Sprout, Revolt TV, Byron Allen’s Comedy.TV and others.

The mid-sized cable operator shed 34,800 basic video subscribers in the fourth quarter, its first since dropping the channels. 

In the most recent period, Kent pointed out that the video subscriber decline was actually less than reported and is likely due to rate increases that were implemented in March. Suddenlink counts customers in Multiple Dwelling Units (like apartments and condominiums) using the Equivalent Basic Unit (EBU) method, which takes the revenue generated from a building and divides it by the standard basic video rate for a standalone home. Even if the bulk revenue figure stays flat, because Suddenlink began implementing rate increases in March, the denominator in some cases would be larger, resulting in about 2,200 additional losses that probably shouldn’t be counted.

Also bolstering its case – churn for the period remained flat, which means that many of those losses were due to fewer gross connects, rather than an increase in customers disconnecting service.  

The rest of the 4,200 lost video subscribers can be attributed to the Viacom dispute and rate increases.

The rest of the business appeared to be chugging along nicely. High-speed Internet additions rose by 34,500 in the period, and telephone subscribers increased by 9,600. Kent said that Operation GigaSpeed, its HSI upgrade program to raise speeds to 1 gigabit-per second, is well underway and it should begin offering is first 1 Gbps service  by the end of the year.  

As expected, Viacom is blocking Suddenlink Communications’ customers’ access to its online content in the wake of its failure to reach a carriage renewal agreement with the pay TV provider.

According to Suddenlink, customers, including broadband-only subscribers that may subscribe to another video provider, who logged into websites like Nickelodeon.com and others were greeted with a screen (pictured) that said their access has been blocked due to the impasse. Suddenlink is directing its customers to other sites like Hulu and Amazon.com to view Viacom networks’ shows online.

The tactic is not a new one for Viacom or other programmers. CBS did the same in its August 2013 blackout of Time Warner Cable systems in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. And in 2012, Viacom blocked access to its online content to DirecTV customers during a nine-day carriage standoff between the two companies.More recently, Viacom blocked online access to Cable One customers after that distributor dropped its cannels in April.

“In doing this, Viacom is violating the principles of an open Internet,” Suddenlink said in a note to subscribers Wednesday. “If you agree, please consider contacting the FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/. In the meantime, the shows you like may be available through YouTube, Hulu, Hulu Plus, Amazon, Amazon Prime, iTunes, or other Internet sources.  Thank you for your patience.  We hope Viacom will quickly reconsider and stop this action.”

Viacom’s carriage agreement with Suddenlink expired at midnight on Oct. 1, part of a dispute over what the cable operator called demands for a 50% increase in carriage fees.  Viacom has said that it offered to accept an earlier Suddenlink proposal for carriage, which the operator rejected. Suddenlink has denied that claim.

“Viacom’s content is available through hundreds of partners, including cable, satellite and many online destinations," Viacom said in a statement. "Customers of these partners receive robust access to our programming, through a variety of audience-friendly distribution agreements that can include television, online and VOD offerings. Suddenlink abruptly decided to end our relationship, which has resulted in the continued interruption of Viacom programming across platforms, including online, through Suddenlink.”