Cable provider Cablevision and media conglomerate Viacom yesterday announced that they have settled a lawsuit over Cablevision's carriage of Viacom television channels on its "Optimum" apps for Apple's iOS devices. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Viacom's channels will continue to be offered through the service.

Viacom and Cablevision have agreed to resolve their pending litigation, and the Viacom programming will continue to appear on Cablevision's Optimum Apps for iPad and other IP devices. In reaching the settlement agreement, Cablevision and Viacom were able to resolve the iPad matter and an unrelated business matter to their mutual satisfaction. Neither side is conceding its original legal position or will have further comment.

Viacom has been at the center of controversy as cable companies have sought to push their offerings to devices such as the iPad and iPhone. Time Warner was the first major cable company to roll out a live TV app for the iPad, but quickly pulled Viacom's channels after the content provider argued that such usage was not permitted under existing contracts.

cablevision optimum ipad jul11
Cablevision soon after launched its own app offering access to all channels within a customer's subscription package, directly challenging Viacom's position on the matter. Both disputes made their way to court, with Time Warner seeking a judgment that would allow it to offer Viacom's channels while Viacom sued Cablevision over its refusal to cease carrying the company's channels. At the time, a settlement between Time Warner and Viacom was said to be in the works, and while no announcement has yet been made on that front, the settlement between Cablevision and Viacom may also bode well for Time Warner customers.

Viacom owns a number of prominent cable television channels, including Comedy Central and the Nickelodeon and MTV families of channels.

Top Rated Comments

Mjmar Avatar
158 months ago
Glad to hear this. The cablevision app is awesome.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justinfreid Avatar
158 months ago
I'm shocked that this ended so quickly. I wonder if this'll set a precedent for the broad allowance of content delivered via a cable subscription to be displayed on mobile devices or if the elements of the agreement are too specific to this matter for that to happen.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shartypants Avatar
158 months ago
I can't wait for the day when we don't have cable/satellite companies and instead just high speed internet providers. The faster companies transition the better.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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