The same thing is happening on WOW Cable here in Columbus, Oh. After some Internet research, it appear that several hundred smaller cable systems all have their contracts with Viacom expiring tonight. Although I can't seem to find actual numbers (from either side), it appears that Viacom is demanding a rate increase of nearly 100% for a renewal and has denied requests to just renew the "popular" channels (ie, the ones people actually watch). Several cable systems noted that viewership of Viacom channels has suffered a drop of 20-30% over the past couple years.
I would presume that any increase in cost would, on average, simply be passed on to the consumer. This would, of course, cut into the cable companies' customer base. On the other hand, if enough of the cable systems drop Viacom, then Viacom goes out of business.
My bet is that Viacom settles for a small fee increase and most/all of the cable companies continue to carry the programming.
|