Less than a week after yanking full episodes of its popular
programming from its websites, a move that some saw as directly related to its
ongoing carriage fight with DirecTV, Viacom has quietly reinstated the shows.
And though that could be a sign that both sides are beginning to soften in
their dispute, a deal still appears to be far off.
"We are still in discussions; working hard to get a
deal done," said DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer.
Viacompulled its 17 networks (26 if you count the respective HD feeds) from
DirecTV on July 10 after the two sides could not reach an agreement on pricing.
On July 11, Viacom
blocked access to full episodes of The
Daily Show, The Colbert Report, SpongeBob SquarePants and other shows on
its respective websites, a move the company said at the time was in part
related to DirecTV's efforts to inform customers of online alternatives during
the dispute. The programmer continued to offer hundreds of older episodes
online.
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