Viacom Gets Dish Extension

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the cable giant has received a short extension onl its carriage agreement with Dish Network and is hopeful a longer term deal can be reached.

Viacom's carriage deal with Dish's 14 million subscribers was scheduled to expire at the end of the month. Investors were concerned that, given Viacom's ratings pressures, there was a strong chance Dish would consider not carrying the channels.

Dauman announced the extension on Viacom's fiscal first-quarter conference call with analysts, adding he expected a deal can be reached that will be "productive for both sides."