Vyve Broadband, the small-market cable operator headed by former executives at Bresnan Communications, has fired the first shot in what it calls its “TV Revolution” campaign, announcing it will drop several popular Viacom networks it says cost too much and its customers don’t watch.
According to Vyve, it is dropping MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central because of annual programming fee increases announced by Viacom that it said would double rates over the next five years.
“This would significantly increase Vyve customers’ monthly costs, since programming fees account for the bulk of customer bills,” Vyve said in a statement. “In addition to concern about passing these rapidly increasing costs on to its customers, Vyve also took into consideration the declining ratings of Viacom channels. Viacom programming will be removed from Vyve’s cable TV lineup starting May 1.”
For the full story go to Multichannel.com.
