No financial details were provided.

As part of the agreement, Viacom and Echostar's Dish Network have settled all litigation between the two companies, they said in a joint statement.

Dish Network had stopped broadcasting Viacom channels at on Tuesday, following a dispute over fee payments.

EchoStar's Dish Network, the second largest US satellite broadcast service, had been battling Viacom -- which owns CBS, MTV and other channels -- over how much is paid for the right to carry certain channels.

It was one of the latest high-profile disputes between providers of content like Viacom and distribution networks of cable and satellite.

"It's great to have our networks back in front of all our viewers, and to bring a new service, Nicktoons, to Dish Network subscribers," said Mel Karmazin, president and chief operating officer of Viacom.

"We apologize to our viewers for the disruption in their service, and want to thank them for their patience and support. We look forward to continuing to serve our viewers through Dish Network well into the future."

"This agreement with Viacom allows Dish Network to remain the lowest-cost, all digital TV provider in the country," said Charles Ergen, chairman and chief executive officer of EchoStar. "We understand that this has been a difficult few days for our customers, and we thank them for all the encouragement they have given us throughout. We also look forward to a long relationship with Viacom in which we can provide their quality channels to our viewers."

Earlier in the week EchoStar accused Viacom of "strong-arm" tactics while Viacom said the satellite group was hiking subscriber fees while refusing to pay modest increases for programmers.

SPACE.WIRE