Could Viacom Channels Like Comedy Central, MTV, & VH1 Disappear From Sling & Dish Network?

After seeing Fox Regional Sports networks dropped from both Dish Network and Sling TV last year, now Viacom-owned channels like BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, and VH1 appear to be at risk.

BET, Comedy Central, and Nick Jr. are currently part of Sling’s Blue Plan ($30), while the rest are a part of various add-ons to the Sling service. Viacom (now ViacomCBS) and Dish signed a multi-year deal in April 2016, which would appear to expire in the next week.

In preparation for a potential blackout, Sling has prepared an announcement page (that has since been removed) that says they are “fighting on your behalf to get these channels back.”

On Dish Network’s online channel guide, they had added a channel to their line-up that says “Viacom is threatening to remove your access to their channels. Visit DISHPromise.com for more information,” which has yet to be updated.

We’ve reached out to Dish Network and ViacomCBS for official confirmation, but neither have responded for comment.

The two sides may very well come to a deal ahead of the end of the contract’s expiration, but it’s clear that it will come down to the wire. Last year, Viacom had a carriage dispute with AT&T, over their carriage on DirecTV and DIRECTV NOW (now called AT&T TV NOW).

Viacom channels are currently available to stream most widely on Philo ($20), as well as fuboTV ($55) and AT&T TV NOW ($55).

In June 2018, Dish and Sling TV lost Univision, UniMás, and El Rey in a carriage dispute. After a 9 month holdout, the the channels returned to Dish, but not to streamer Sling TV.

In November 2018, HBO and Cinemax were removed from Sling & Dish in a dispute with AT&T — and have not returned. Dish and Disney narrowly avoided a dispute last summer, which would have seen FX and Nat Geo disappear from the service.