• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 23, 2011

Cablevision tipped investors off last month that a lawsuit could be coming from programmers objecting to their networks being streamed live on iPads. On Thursday, Viacom made that a reality, filing suit to force the cable operator to yank the likes of MTV and BET from the service.

It's curious that it took this long.

In the spring, Viacom objected to Time Warner Cable offering a similar iPad offering -- and traded suits with TWC. As that dispute has continued -- it's out of court for now -- TWC has kept the Viacom networks off the service.

Cablevision appears to be taking a tougher stance. Even as it began to face the suit Thursday, the networks remained on its system, which simulcasts a subscriber's entire cable package on an iPad in the home.

In a May government filing, Cablevision said programmers have complained they had their networks available and felt that was a "material breach of their affiliation agreements." Cablevision, in turn, said it was trying to resolve the matters, but felt it had a "strong legal position."

In its suit filed in New York federal court Thursday, Viacom accuses Cablevision of trying to "unilaterally change the terms" of contracts. Distribution on an iPad "exceeds the scope" of the deals.

In a statement, Cablevision said the streaming is permissible under existing agreements. "It is cable television service on the iPad, which functions as a television, and is delivered securely to our customers in the home on Cablevision's own proprietary network," the company said.

Viacom also complains in the court filing that the iPad distribution is hurting its ability to monetize content through other wireless distribution, including licensing to other providers.

Viacom stated: "We have taken this action to protect our valuable content ... We remain open to productive discussions, but we cannot wait indefinitely while our networks are being distributed without permission."

In court papers, Viacom notes it complained to Cablevision in March about the iPad matter, which was before the April launch of the service. Discussions on a resolution have not been fruitful since then, it said.