Cablevision drops TV bundle lawsuit against Viacom

Cablevision has dropped a two-year-old lawsuit against Viacom that accused the channel operator behind MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central of charging it exorbitant fees if it did not also carry less popular channels like Logo and Palladia. The companies said in a joint statement they had resolved the legal fight and were "entering into mutually beneficial business arrangements."

Cablevision, which has agreed to be bought by European telecommunications giant Altice for $17.7 billion, argued in its March 2013 suit that Viacom abused its market power and coerced it into taking channels it didn't want. While neither company would comment on the settlement, the new deal comes amid a broad ratings decline for traditional TV channels that has caused New York-based Viacom shares to fall 34 percent in 2015.