More than three million Cablevision customers could wake up New Year’s Day without shows such as “SpongeBob Squarepants” and “The Daily Show.”
The Long Island cable operator is set to drop 17 channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, in a dispute with Viacom over programming fees. Their current contract expires on Jan. 1.
It marks the second time in the past year that Viacom has faced off against a major pay-TV distributor. Viacom-owned channels went dark for DirecTV’s 20 million customers for more than a week in July in a similar dispute over fees.
While Cablevision has just 3.5 million households, its influential coverage area includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where many network and advertising execs reside.
Reps for Viacom and Cablevision weren’t able to immediately comment.
catkinson@nypost.com