Two media giants, Viacom and DirecTV, used social media sites Tuesday to rally support in a spat over whether DirecTV’s 20 million customers will lose access to Viacom channels.
The two companies are trying to reach a deal that would allow DirecTV to continue distributing 17 Viacom channels — including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET, CMT, Spike and Comedy Central.
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A blackout of those channels is set for Tuesday at midnight ET if a deal isn’t reached. The dispute burst across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday.
MTV, for example, employed the hashtag #WhenDirecTVDrops, while DirecTV used #DirectvHasMyBack. Both hashtags got lots of love from people — including many celebrities — following the dispute. “Direct TV” was trending on Twitter for much of the day.
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Tonight @ is dropping @ ! Call them now 800-531-5000 to demand they For more info:
— MTV (@MTV)
@ is dropping MTV and that means no more SNOOKI JWOWW so call 800 531 5000 to stop them!
— NiC0LE P0LiZZi (@snooki)
DIRECTV is not removing Nick, MTV, Comedy! TV Land and other Viacom channels =
— DIRECTV (@DIRECTV)
To be clear DIRECTV has every intention of keeping Viacom channels up until we get a deal done. Read more =
— DIRECTV (@DIRECTV)
Dish Network was embroiled in a , resulting in Dish dropping AMC on July 1.
DirecTV says Viacom wants customers “to pay over to keep the same channels you are already receiving,” which the service provider equates to more than $1 billion.
Viacom, which on Monday said “DirecTV has rejected all of our proposals to renew our agreement,” , saying they’re misleading:
“DirecTV is throwing around some big numbers that are misleading. Here’s the truth: Viacom is asking DirecTV for an increase of a couple of pennies per day per subscriber. That’s far less than DirecTV pays other programmers with fewer viewers than Viacom. Viacom has always been open to negotiating and hopes to get a deal done.”
Viacom also leveraged Facebook and YouTube to bring attention to the dispute. Its (see below) was created to inform its viewers about the situation. Viacom claims 26 channels, rather than 17, are involved.
Who is in the right here? Give us your take in the comments.
Thumbnail courtesy of , .
This story originally published on Mashable .
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