Time Warner Cable and Viacom reach deal

LOS ANGELES -- Millions of Time Warner Cable customers won't lose their access to MTV and 18 other channels after the cable giant reached an agreement early Thursday with media conglomerate Viacom Inc.

The two sides, citing disagreement over fee hikes, had threatened a damaging blackout at a minute past midnight Thursday that would have cut off shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Colbert Report" to about 15.7 million subscribers, including 2.3 million in Ohio.

"We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks," said Glenn Britt, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. "We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation."