Viacom, Charter agree to extend renewal deadline: source

(Reuters) – Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) and Charter Communications Inc (CHTR.O) agreed on a short-term extension of their renewal deadline, a source familiar with the matter said, as the companies aim to avoid the immediate blackout of Viacom networks.

If no deal is reached, 16.6 million subscribers of Charter&rsquo-s Spectrum service will lose Viacom&rsquo-s networks, which include Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.

Viacom and Charter are working to &ldquo-reach a mutually beneficial deal,&rdquo- said the source, who did not want to be identified.

Viacom stands to lose $760 million, or about 16 percent, of its annual affiliate revenue if an agreement is not reached, according to an analyst at Gabelli & Co, Viacom&rsquo-s second-largest voting shareholder.

Both sides are under pressure from cord-cutting, or dropping of pay television, as audiences flock to cheaper streaming services that have emerged in the past decade.

An agreement between the two companies would be &ldquo-mutually beneficial,&rdquo- wrote Evercore ISI in an note Sunday.