Viacom And Charter Communications Renew Distribution Agreement

(RTTNews) - Viacom Inc. (VIAB, VIA) and Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) announced a multi-year renewal and expansion of their distribution relationship, as well as a new partnership for the co-production of original content, and collaboration around advanced advertising. Other terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Charter will provide Spectrum subscribers Viacom's networks, including Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central, Spike (Paramount Network), VH1, TV Land and CMT, on the Spectrum Select tier across its systems. Additional Viacom networks will continue to be available on Spectrum Silver or Spectrum Gold tiers. Subscribers will continue to enjoy on-demand access to Viacom's content on both set-top boxes and through both Charter's and Viacom's authenticated apps.

Viacom and Charter have also entered into a partnership for co-production of new original content that will exclusively premiere for subscribers on Charter's platform in the U.S. Under the agreement, Viacom's Paramount Television and Charter will jointly produce programming. Viacom will distribute the co-produced programming internationally, as well as in additional domestic markets, including potentially on Viacom Networks, after Charter's premiere period.

Additionally, the companies have agreed to collaborate on the use of anonymized viewership data, on advanced advertising opportunities, and on addressing unauthorized password sharing.