All’s fair in love and war. But making Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob cry?
Apparently this is the depth to which Viacom Inc. (VIA.B) feels it must stoop in its campaign against Time Warner Cable (TWC). The owner of cable channels including Nickleodeon, Comedy Central and MTV is upset because it gets 8 percent of the cable company’s total programming fees but draws about 20 percent of Time Warner Cable viewers. Yet Time Warner Cable is unwilling to pay more, according to a Wall Street Journal report on the matter. So, unless Time Warner Cable comes around, it is Viacom’s intention to pull its cable channels from the TWC systems.
To add insult to industry, Viacom also is launching a campaign across Internet, print, radio and TV channels advertising the fact that Time Warner Cable is taking its channels off the air, using the messaging “Why is SpongeBob crying?” and “Why is Dora crying?” But here’s the good part (unless you’re Time Warner Cable, of course): another ad related to this effort refers customers to competing service providers DirecTV and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ).
Happy Holidays, kids!
