Cablevision, Viacom call truce over iPad TV show streaming
updated 06:50 pm EDT, Wed August 10, 2011
Cablevision iOS app cleared through settlement
Cablevision and Viacom late Wednesday settled their dispute over the Optimum iOS TV app. The deal lets Cablevision keep Viacom's shows on the TV streaming gateway without either side conceding its legal points. Terms of the settlement weren't mentioned but likely involved Cablevision paying Viacom for continued rights.
The lawsuit was started in June after Viacom claimed Cablevision didn't have rights to put its TV shows on anything but cable TV. Cablevision had always resisted and said that its TV network was uniquely capable of overcoming the technical objections that affected Time Warner Cable and others. Its TV network is IP-based and let it feed the exact same content to iPads, iPhones, and iPods as it does to TVs.
Cable providers see the iOS apps as a way of keeping customers on cable TV subscriptions by giving them more ways to watch their existing subscriptions without needing another set. The services often have limits, such as a requirement of being on a network linked to a company cable modem.
Viacom has been one of the most resistant to online video and has regularly kept its content off of the web or streaming services despite evidence of popularity boosts when it remains.
