MTV wants to retain its premium charging, but the cable firms believe the station can no longer justify such charges and if an agreement can not be reached then MTV could find itself replaced by cheaper rivals such as Emap's The Box.
The cable firms are arguing that, in the past, other operators have dropped MTV with no real impact on subscription numbers.
MTV has hit back at the cable companies and said that consumers will vote with their feet.
An MTV spokesman told the Sunday Times: "If they can not get the quality they want with Telewest then they will subscribe to a platform that can deliver it to them. We can not allow the smallest player in the market [Telewest] to set a dangerous precedent for pricing on other platforms."
On digital cable, MTV now provides its original MTV UK channel, as well as a number of spin-off channels including alternative music station MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Base, as well as sister channel VH1, which comes with its own spin-off VH1 Classic.
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