Viacom and Dish Network Agree to Renew Contract

UNITED STATES - JULY 28: The Viacom Inc. logo is displayed outside the headquarters in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. Viacom, owner of MTV Networks and the Paramount Pictures film studio, said second-quarter profit fell 32 percent because of an advertising slump and declining movie revenue. (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Photograph by Andrew Harrer — Bloomberg/Getty Images

Viacom said on Thursday reached an agreement with Dish Network, averting a blackout of its programs on the satellite TV network.

News of the accord helped send Viacom’s shares up over 9.7% in late morning trade, while Dish’s stock firmed 0.6%.

Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The companies have been in discussions for several months over whether Dish would continue to carry Viacom’s 18 channels and at what price. A blackout would have blocked Dish subscribers’ access to Viacom shows such as Broad City on Comedy Central and SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon.

For Viacom, which has been struggling to turn around its waning television ratings, the agreement with Dish shows that distributors still view the company’s networks as valuable to viewers.

While Viacom could have pulled its programming from Dish networks when the agreement expired at the start of Thursday, it did not.

Viacom’s stock was up over 9.7% in late morning trading, while Dish’s stock firmed 0.6%.