Viacom, AT&T's DirecTV Make Progress In Contract Talks

(RTTNews) - Viacom Inc. (VIAB, VIA) and AT&T Inc. (T) were continuing negotiations to avert a programming blackout that would leave more than 24 million pay-TV customers without channels like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, after their earlier contract expired at midnight Friday.

The negotiations are over carriage of Viacom's networks on AT&T's DirecTV, U-verse and WatchTV services. As of Sunday, Viacom's channels were still on the air as the parties continued to talk.

Such programming-carriage disputes happen periodically in cable and satellite TV and sometimes are resolved quickly. The fights are intensifying as cable-TV cord-cutting picks up momentum, pressuring pay-TV providers to cut their spending on content and prune the number of networks they offer.