Viacom Inc. announced that its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will stop broadcasting on Time Warner Cable Inc. at 12:01 a.m. Thursday (January 1) if the parts do not agree by then on a new carriage fee deal.

Show such as "SpongeBob" or "The Daily Show" with Tom Stewart will no longer reach about 13 million subscribers. In its statement released to announce this issue, Viacom Inc said the cable company is "overreaching for profit at the expense of its viewers".

Viacom, owner of Comedy Central, VH1 and TV Land, wants to increase the fee with 23 cents per month per subscriber. The company described the increase as "reasonable and modest” in comparison with to the profits Time Warner Cable enjoys from Viacom’s networks.

"We make this request because TWC has so greatly undervalued our channels for so long," Viacom’. Viacom spokespersons said that TWC has asked for an exorbitant increase in their carriage fees.

The increase of 23 cents per month per subscriber works to a $35.9 million more in total. Viacom added that Americans spend on average about 20% of their TV time watching Viacom shows, but they company’s fees make up less than 2.5 percent of the Time Warner cable bill.

The negotiations are being carried at the highest level and are currently under way.