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DirecTV (DTV), Viacom (VIAB) End Stalemate w/ New Deal; Traders Eye Netflix (NFLX)

July 20, 2012 7:33 AM EDT
Earlier in the session Friday, Viacom (Nasdaq: VIAB) issued a press release stating that the Company and DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) have hashed out a new agreement which would restore Viacom programming for DirecTV customers.

Not many details were revealed in the release, including financial terms.

Under the terms, Viacom will restore 17 channels on DirecTV, including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Spike, CMT, TV Land and ten other channels. Notably, DirecTV subs will also gain the ability to view Viacom content on tablets, laptops, handhelds and other personal devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. The release did state that "[c]arriage of the EPIX movie channel is not required as part of the new agreement."

The spat began a few weeks back, when Viacom blacked-out programming on DirecTV. Viacom said it was looking to replace a seven-year-old contract between the two. Shots were fired from that point on, with DirecTV claiming Viacom wanted too much with a new deal, while Viacom called DirecTV statements misleading.

Either way, the deal is done, so subs will be able to enjoy Jersey Shore and whatever else MTV currently runs virtually anywhere they go.

Traders might also keep an eye on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), which saw a bit of upside on the day Viacom pulled programming from DirecTV. Some might have hoped subs would switch over to Netflix, though no hard numbers will be available until DirecTV releases quarterly results.

In other satellite TV news, DISH Network (Nasdaq: DISH), yesterday, said it added about 655,000 net subs in the second quarter, which may also be a boon for DirecTV moving forward.

Ahead of the bell Friday, DirecTV, Netflix, and Viacom are looking a little flat.


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