EyeQ Tech review EyeQ Tech EyeQ Tech tuyển dụng review công ty eyeq tech eyeq tech giờ ra sao EyeQ Tech review EyeQ Tech EyeQ Tech tuyển dụng crab meat crab meat crab meat importing crabs live crabs export mud crabs vietnamese crab exporter vietnamese crabs vietnamese seafood vietnamese seafood export vietnams crab vietnams crab vietnams export vietnams export
Business

Viacom shares tumble after Dish Network deal darkens

By
Claire Atkinson
Published April 20, 2016, 2:18 a.m. ET

Just when it appears things can’t get any worse at Viacom, another $1 billion in value goes up in smoke.

Shares of the media giant tumbled 8.3 percent on Tuesday, to $35.64, after the owner of the Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV cable networks admitted that months of talks with Dish Network over a new carriage agreement were close to failing.

The 14 million subscribers to Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network could see their 18 Viacom-owned channels go dark at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if Ergen and Viacom boss Philippe Dauman can’t hammer out a deal before then.

The two sides have been talking since January.

Going dark on Dish would be another black eye for Chief Executive Dauman, who has overseen a near 50-percent slide in Viacom shares over the past year amid eroding revenue and ratings.

Losing Dish’s affiliate fees could dint advertising revenue and efforts to book advertisers into advance commitments in the current upfront.

Already, Tuesday’s stock slide wiped $1.1 billion in value from Viacom’s ledger.

Of course, viewers could also take out their frustrations on Dish and cancel their subscriptions and move to another provider.

Viacom admitted on Tuesday that darkness may be lying on the edge of town as it began running a bottom-screen crawl letting viewers know their channels may disappear.

Viacom’s last agreement with Dish was seven years ago — when ratings were plenty higher — and Dauman’s team is looking for a price hike in line with what it would ask from its biggest distribution partners, a Viacom rep said.

The Dish-Dauman dustup is just the latest drama surrounding Viacom. The company is looking to sell a minority stake in its Paramount studio, a move that doesn’t have the blessing of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone.

Also, the board has been swept up in a controversy surrounding the mental competency of the 92-year-old Redstone.

Ergen seems to know he can play hardball with Viacom given the importance of continued carriage. Viacom is currently in the midst of pitching advertisers on its channels.

At the end of March, Trevor Noah and Amy Schumer helmed the Comedy Central upfront to encourage Madison Avenue to put its dollars in the network.

JPMorgan analyst Alexia Quadrani noted that Dish goes dark in around 75 percent of its negotiations.

Dish is scheduled to report its first-quarter results on Wednesday.

Viacom, in a statement, said it is “extremely disappointed” Dish has not engaged in a serious way to reach a new carriage deal.

Dish countered, saying Viacom was asking for more while delivering fewer viewers.