Update: Spectrum customers still have MTV, VH1, Spike, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon as of Monday morning. A new report says Viacom agreed to a short term extension as contract negotiations continue.

-------

Spectrum cable customers may lose several TV channels due to a contract dispute, Viacom Inc. warned Wednesday.

Reuters reports Viacom says it's made a series of offers to Charter Communications, Spectrum's parent company, but cannot meet Charter's "unreasonable" demands. As a result, carriage of Viacom channels like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon could be dropped if a deal isn't reached by this weekend.

"While we're making every effort to reach a new deal, Charter's actions may force a disruption in Spectrum subscribers' service," Viacom said in a statement. "Despite our efforts, Charter continues to insist on unreasonable and extreme terms that are totally inconsistent with the market. While we're making every effort to reach a new deal, Charter's actions may force a disruption in their service."

A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that the current agreement between Charter and Viacom will expire Oct. 15. A blackout would affect 16.5 million subscribers, thanks to the company's expansion when it bought Time Warner Cable last year.

According to Variety, the two companies have been bickering for months after Charter moved Viacom networks like MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and Spike (which is rebranding as Paramount Network) to a higher-priced cable subscription tier.

"They don't have the contractual right to tier our services the way they have," Viacom CEO Bob Bakish told investors in August.

Spectrum has not commented on the dispute.

Similar contract disputes earlier this year include Fox Networks Group nearly pulling FX network, National Geographic and Fox Sports from Spectrum in April, and Verizon FiOS customers losing Fox Syracuse for over a month at the beginning of 2017. Both eventually reached agreements.

According to Reuters, Viacom is in the middle of a turnaround as it struggles to compete with online streaming services while cable companies are fighting cord-cutters. Six of the largest U.S. pay TV providers, including Charter, posted subscriber losses during the past quarter.