Nick tells viewers 'drop Telewest'

net1

Kids's TV network Nickelodeon UK is calling on its viewers to drop Telewest and sign up to Sky after the cableco dropped four of its channels when the two failed to agree a new carriage contract.

Nickelodeon, Nick Replay, Nicktoons and Nick Jr TV channels were dropped by Telewest on Thursday afternoon (December 16) after failing to agree new carriage terms.

Nickelodeon UK managing director David Lynn said although a deal with Telewest has not been completely ruled out, viewers should consider approaching other broadcasters.

"We remain open to discussion with Telewest and have been working hard to resolve this issue and to get Nickelodeon back on air for our Telewest viewers.

"However, until we hear back from Telewest we can only suggest that Nickelodeon fans contact Telewest's customer service line to express their concern, or approach another service operator such as Sky, NTL or HomeChoice," he said. The Nickelodeon website supports Lynn's advice and has put up details of Sky and HomeChoice to help Telewest customers look elsewhere, apparently thousands of viewers have phoned Nickelodeon to complain about the axing of its channels from Telewest just days before Christmas.

Nickelodeon cited "substantial changes" to the existing agreement with Telewest as the reason for the new carriage deal being rejected while Telewest said that it has to keep programming costs "competitive" to offer its viewers value for money.

Nickelodeon UK is a joint venture between BSkyB and MTV Networks.