Longwood’s Internet and cable provider, Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) may be dropping 18 channels provided by Viacom, owner of MTV Networks, due to overpricing.
Shentel and Viacom could not come to an agreement on rates for this upcoming year. “Viacom wants to increase the price by rate of inflation of channels that aren’t as heavily watched,” said Christopher Kyle, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Shentel.
According to Kyle, these large increases impact everyone, and he wants to make sure that customers know they are working on their behalf.
“Viacom owns networks such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, but in order to offer these, Viacom requires Shentel to carry and pay for networks that are not as well-known, and not as widely viewed, such as MTV2, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic,” said Kyle. “We want our customers to know that fees from cable networks account for the majority of their monthly cable bills.”
Viacom also provides VH1, TV Land, CMT, BET, Spike, MTVJams, Tr3s, CMT Pure Country, VH1 Soul, Nick Jr., TeenNick and Nicktoons. The HD channels include CMT HD, MTV HD, Nickelodeon HD, VH1 HD, Comedy HD and Spike HD.
Nielson data show that fewer people watch most of these channels than they did three years ago, so it would be unwise for Shentel to invest more into these channels, even though that is what Viacom is asking of them.
According to Kyle, it’s all or nothing in the entertainment business. He said, “We even asked if they could offer certain channels individually so customers could be satisfied, but Viacom won’t allow it.”
“If they would be reasonable with their pricing, we could come to an agreement,” said Kyle. “They have so much market power, [but] they refuse to consider that Farmville can’t afford their high priced conditions.”
Normally in a situation like this, Shentel would sign a one month extension with Viacom, giving them more time to come up with a solution, but Viacom said they are unwilling to do this. This is why customers are getting messages across their TV screens saying, “This channel won’t be available much longer.”
Viacom is a multi-billion dollar company that does not seem to understand how, in small towns like Farmville, this pressures local service providers such as Shentel to have to drop certain channels to save money.
This change will impact everyone in Farmville and surrounding areas. Most Longwood students utilize the channels provided by Viacom and are upset that they might be losing them.
Kyle believes that Viacom is being very unfair to the consumer by refusing to be flexible.
“Shentel is trying hard to protect customers from significant programming fee increases,” Kyle said. “These large increases impact all of us, and we want to make sure our customers know we are working on their behalf.”
Today’s entertainment marketplace is changing rapidly. Competition is extremely high, causing big companies such as Viacom to increase network pricing, leading small businesses like Shentel to have to drop certain channels.
A handful of media companies control all of the entertainment world, making it very hard for outlets like Shentel to stay profitable.
“It’s complicated, but it’s important for consumers to understand we are trying our hardest to keep these channels available,” said Kyle. “We have a fixed budget, so we cannot accept the rate increase, and it’s not conducive to Farmville.”
