TV viewers in the US can get back to dancing around the house

Satellite television provider Echostar on Tuesday turned off some channels in a contract dispute with Viacom.

Echostar it seems baulked at paying more for channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, as well as not wanting to carry less popular products.

The row was the latest that has pitted distributors against producers.

Tuned in

Service was returned to normal on Thursday for the 1.6 million subscribers that had been affected.

With a limited number of details about the deal available, analysts speculated about which had come out on top.

It will be a victory for content providers, they say, if Viacom has managed to squeeze more money out of Echostar.

But if Echostar has won concessions it will seriously dent the assertion that content is king.

Similar conflicts also have arisen between ABC and Time Warner, as well as ESPN and Charter Communications and Cox Communications.

The media industry was shocked earlier this year when animation and theme park company Walt Disney failed to agree new terms with one of its most profitable collaborators Pixar Animation.

Together they had been responsible for hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, though as the creative force behind the films, Pixar eventually wanted a bigger slice of the profit pie.

History

Some analysts said that Echostar stood to lose too much money if it failed to agree with Viacom, which also controls the rights to popular sports such as US college basketball.

Viacom had urged Echostar's clients to stop subscribing to its Dish Network.

The dispute between Viacom and Echostar began after a contract enabling the Dish Network to broadcast Viacom channels expired on 31 December.

The contract was extended at least three times, voluntarily and by court orders.

Echostar maintains Viacom had sought to raise prices by 40% over the length of its contract.