TORONTO – AMC was still airing on Rogers early Friday despite the expiry of a distribution contract between the cable giant and the U.S.-based channel.

Negotiations were still ongoing ahead of a deadline for reaching a new deal by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Rogers spokeswoman Patricia Trott had said the company remained in talks with AMC with the goal of reaching an agreement.

Both sides, who have been in negotiations over the past few months, have spent much of the week in a public spat over the contract renewal.

That led to speculation AMC could kill the signal for its channel if a deal was not reached by the deadline, but programming continued as usual early Friday.

Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) had said it had no plans to remove AMC, which airs such hit programs as “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men,” even if there was no agreement in place by the deadline.