From pal-item.com:

Millions of Time Warner Cable customers won’t lose their access to MTV and 18 other channels after the cable giant reached an agreement early Thursday with media conglomerate Viacom Inc.

The two sides, citing disagreement over fee hikes, had threatened a damaging blackout at a minute past midnight Thursday that would have cut off shows such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Colbert Report” to about 15.7 million subscribers.

“We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks,” said Glenn Britt, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. “We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Details must still be finalized over the next few days, the companies said.

I previously blogged about the dispute’s effect on BrightHouse Networks cable in the Orlando area. As part of the deal, we’ve gained Fox Sports Net, which I will never watch.

Fortunately, VH1 Classic has remained on the air since the beginning of the new year and I’ve been enjoying the 2009 for 2009 marathon in which the station is playing 2009 music videos from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s in alphabetical order by song title. One day in and they’re only up to the letter C. I’m holding out for “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads, though that’s several days away.

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