In a terse statement issued late Friday, Cablevision and Viacom said a settlement had been reached.
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Altice is expected to try to lower its operating costs at Cablevision, including reducing programming costs.
Details of the settlement as also any changes to the companies’ carriage agreements were not spelt out.
It had asked the court to void the 2012 agreement, alleging Viacom had “coerced” it to sign it “by threatening to impose massive financial penalties”.
The suit had alleged that Viacom has impaired competition by forcing Cablevision to carry networks that many of its subscribers have no interest in, while excluding other networks from distribution.
Many programmers including NBC Universal, Walt Disney and Viacom price their channel packages in such a way that makes distributors to transmit all channels offered by them.
According to Cablevision, Viacom engaged in a “per se” illegal tying arrangement by bundling “must-have networks” like MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central Palladia, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic, that were lesser viewed.
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New products like Dish’s Sling TV, which offer channels like ESPN and AMC for $20 a month, are pressuring cable companies to offer smaller bundles of channels that cost less to consumers. The programmer also brought counterclaims and demanded that its contract with Cablevision be rescinded, opening the prospect that Cablevision could lose rights to MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
