Turner Broadcasting major part of Time Warner

“Turner is essential to the existence of Time Warner through its sports rights,” said Rich Hanley, associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, and close watcher of the TV business. Turner has lucrative deals with the NCAA, the NBA and Major League Baseball.

If Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox were to pick up Time Warner, Hanley said, “it could deepen the viability of Murdoch’s fledgling sports network Fox Sports 1 against NBC and ESPN.”

In addition, Turner’s TNT and TBS have been among the top five most popular basic cable networks for much of the past decade. Adult Swim content on the Cartoon Network brings in hard-to-reach younger male viewers, which are key for ad revenue.

Still, Murdoch would likely have to shed Turner’s CNN operations because his company already owns Fox News and could face anti-trust scrutiny. Both CBS and the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, have shown past interest in acquiring CNN, noted Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and a former CNN correspondent.

CNN — which remains a formidable brand despite domestic network ratings woes — has cooperated with CBS before, allowing evening host Anderson Cooper, for instance, to do stories for “60 Minutes.”

Time Warner purchased Turner from founder Ted Turner 18 years ago for what was valued at the time at $7.5 billion. Murdoch’s recent $80 billion bid was rejected by Time Warner.