Viacom CEO calls Cablevision lawsuit "frivolous"

Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman criticized Cablevision for filing an "ill-advised and frivolous" antitrust lawsuit against Viacom that he said would just turn into a waste of legal fees.

Dauman's remarks, his first public response to the lawsuit, come a week after Cablevision accused Viacom Inc of illegally forcing it to pay for more than a dozen low-rated cable networks in order to get access to Viacom's most popular channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. "The bottom line is that the lawyers will get rich on this," Dauman said adding that Cablevision's money would be better spent providing its subscribers with better customer service.