Negotiations between Time Warner Cable and the Fox Sports network over programming fees are going down to the wire and if the two sides don't come to an agreement by Dec. 31, many popular Fox channels may no longer be carried by the cable giant.

That could mean Time Warner Cable subscribers on the Mainland will not be able to tune into college bowl games, NFL football and popular programming, such as "American Idol" and "24," beginning Jan. 1. The nation's second-largest cable operator has about 13 million subscribers and operates Oceanic Time Warner Cable in Hawai'i.

But a spokesman for Oceanic Time Warner Cable said the negotiations do not involve KHON Channel 2, which is the local Fox affiliate. Norman Santos, Oceanic vice president of operations, said KHON is owned and operated by Atlanta-based NV Broadcasting LLC, which is not involved in the contract squabble.

That means normal programming on KHON will continue should the cable company and network fail to come to an agreement.

Santos said among the channels that would be affected are Fox Sports West and Fox Prime Ticket.

"It's not KHON, which is a Fox affiliate. It would be pretty bad if on New Year's morning we didn't have the games. But that doesn't appear likely to happen," Santos said.

The issue centers on the price Time Warner Cable pays to carry Fox programming. Fox claims it is seeking fair compensation, while Time Warner says the increases, which the company said are as high as 300 percent, are "going too far."

Time Warner Cable this month launched a "Get Tough" campaign that asked customers to comment on the proposed fee increases and said the results were overwhelmingly in support of the cable company.

"We're working hard to avoid any interruption, while negotiating agreements that protect your pocketbooks and our ability to continue bringing you the shows you want to see," Time Warner said on its Web site. "But we're not backing down and we want viewers to be prepared."

Santos said he is optimistic that the two sides will come to an agreement so no programming will be lost. Time Warner was in a similar situation last year when media giant Viacom Inc. threatened to pull MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and 16 other channels if no new fee deal was reached.

Negotiations were extended three times beyond the Dec. 31 deadline and an agreement was eventually reached, Santos said.