Why Mom and Dad Fight

If you've read any decent media coverage in the last few weeks, you could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that networks and cable operators have all gone totally bonkers at once. Viacom and DirecTV froze 20 million viewers out of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and nearly two dozen other channels for a full ten days, eventually coming to terms on a new seven-year contract in the $600 million range, according to Bernstein Research.