Tag Archives: vh1

Cablevision Sues Viacom in Fee Faux Pas

Some TV packages just don’t deliver

Two months after reaching an agreement, it looks like there’s already trouble in paradise.  Cablevision and Viacom are going to court over a packaging of low rated networks.  The issue here is obtaining access to juggernauts ratings such as Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.  Cablevision must also support up to a dozen lesser-watched channels which hurt their overall brand.  The antitrust lawsuit could be a landmark decision going forward to monitor the way cable providers reach terms for packaged channels.  The case was filed in New York, stemming from a mutual contract agreed to over the winter.

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Anthrax Settles With Ex-Singer, Shreds Original Request

Musical mishap

Anthrax members Charlie Benante, Frank Bello, and frequent VH1 panelist Scott Ian found themselves caught in a mosh in 2009 when Dan Nelson sued the group for some inaccurate statements they made after his departure from the band.  The band  published that an illness had caused the singer to leave and the band to cancel an upcoming concert tour.  Nelson pursued a $2.65 million lawsuit to refute Anthrax’s “intentional defamation” and collect lost royalties.  “I was never seriously ill or sick at all, as reported in Anthrax’s 7/17/09 press release,” said Nelson. “This statement misled fans, friends, and family members into believing that I was seriously ill when I was not.”  To settle the suit, Nelson was offered a confidential, yet “fairly small”, monetary amount and was given co-writing credit on 11 of the 14 songs on the band’s 2011 release Worship Music.