CBS Head Les Moonves Interested in Acquiring CNN

If Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox ends up acquiring Time Warner, but having to ditch CNN, then perhaps CBS’ Les Moonves would be interested picking up the cable news network. During an appearance Friday at the Television Critics Association summer conference, Moonves reportedly said he would be open to the idea.

Asked by a reporter at that event whether he wants to buy CNN, Moonves said, “We’ve always talked about doing things with CNN. We’ll see. It’s something I’m sure we will look at if that becomes available.”

As The New York Times reported earlier this week, Murdoch’s $80 billion offer for Time Warner was rejected, but even if it had gone through he likely would have had to sell off the CNN portion of the media company to avoid anti-trust issues with his Fox News.

While NBC News already has a cable news channel in the form of MSNBC, both ABC and CBS are considered likely buyers when it comes to CNN.

[Photo via Wikimedia Commons]

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