Viacom and Cablevision Settle Lawsuit Over Live TV on iOS Apps

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 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.