Viacom May Pull Shows From Time Warner

"Ultimately, however, if Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the rest of our programming is discontinued -- over less than a penny per day -- we believe viewers will see this behavior by their cable company as outrageous," it said.

Tense negotiations are continuing at the highest level, Dudley said.

Viacom accused Time Warner Cable of not negotiating.

"It is our sincere hope that they will come to the table and negotiate a deal," said McAndrew. The network operator also intends to tell viewers about the dispute in TV ads in 11 major markets.

Part of the disagreement is that most of the popular shows are rerun on Web sites where Viacom collects advertising revenue that it does not share with Time Warner, Dudley said.

"We don't think that's fair," he said. "They're trying to have their cake and eat it too online, where anybody can get it for free."

Viacom has staked much of its revenue-growth prospects on its ability to extract higher carriage rates out of its cable and satellite affiliates despite an ad slowdown and weak ratings.

In the third quarter, media network revenue, which accounts for about two-thirds of the total, grew 6% to $2.1 billion, despite global ad revenue falling 2%, largely because of double-digit%age growth in affiliate fees and the success of its "Rock Band" video game.

Viacom shares rose 69 cents, or 3.7%, to close at $19.26 on Tuesday, while Time Warner Cable shares added $1.56, or 7.7%, to $21.76.