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It
was not immediately clear if a deal could be reached, sources
briefed on the matter said. AT&T and Viacom declined to comment.
The previous contract, in which AT&T paid Viacom about $1
billion in fees annually, expired at midnight Friday. Failing to
reach a deal means Viacom channels would not be available to
AT&T's 24.5 million customers.
These types of conflicts have become increasingly common amid
waves of media consolidation and the migration of viewers from
traditional pay television services to streaming TV services
such as Netflix and Amazon.
The current discussions have weighed on any potential tie-up of
CBS Corp and Viacom, both of which are controlled by the
Redstone family's National Amusements Inc.
Viacom had begun warning AT&T subscribers on Tuesday that its
channels could stop being shown on the DirecTV service if it
failed to reach a new contract by midnight on March 22.
Viacom, owner of MTV, Nickelodeon, BET and Comedy Central,
accused AT&T of abusing its powers after buying Time Warner Inc,
which owns the Warner Bros Hollywood studios and HBO premium
cable network.
AT&T has said Viacom channels are no longer as popular as they
once were and accused them of being a "serial bad actor" in
contract renewal negotiations.
(Reporting by Kenneth Li; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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