Bubble had been trying to enter talks with NTL, which has almost 600,000 customers in Ireland, for the past three months, but each approach was rebuffed, according to Bubble managing director James Hyland.

The channel, which was launched six months ago, is currently only available in Ireland on Sky. NTL's offer of talks came after the Sunday Tribune contacted the company regarding the situation, which Hyland described as frustrating.

"We're deemed to be an Irish channel. We are Irish-owned and we have lots of Irish presenters but it seems we can't get onto Irish cable even though we can easily launch anywhere else in Europe, " said Hyland.

He said that at one stage Bubble offered to draw up a detailed business plan for NTL, outlining the benefits of carrying the channel, but was told the cable company's management was too busy to discuss the proposal.

Hyland said Bubble was deliberately launched on Sky first, due to the difficulties involved in obtaining a cable slot.

"We wanted to be able to prove our success before approaching NTL, " he said.

He said, however, that a presence on NTL had always been a major part of the channel's plans, which include setting up Irish opt-outs for programming and advertising.

"A lot of our audience are students or based in apartments where there are rules against putting up Sky dishes so NTL is the only way to reach them, " said Hyland.

Despite the channel's difficulties with NTL, Hyland said its launch met investors' expectations.

"We have over 3.5 million viewers a month and we are currently number one in the 16-and-under category in Britain, " he said.

He also said the ratings for Irish model Glenda Gilson's new programme, Glenda's Showbiz Gossip, had exceeded the station's expectations.

A spokeswoman for NTL said the company was in talks with Bubble and "while discussions remain ongoing, we cannot comment further on the matter".