Media companies Discovery Communications and Viacom have held separate merger talks with Scripps Networks Interactive, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
Last month Scripps, which owns various entertainment channels, participated in a funding round for US over-the-top streaming service FuboTV, a carrier of the in-house platforms of English Premier League football club Chelsea and Portuguese Primeira Liga outfit Benfica.
Scripps also operates Polish media company TVN, a major sports broadcaster in the country.
“There’s more pressure on cable players around the world, satellite and mobile players, to merge or figure out how to offer all those together,” Discovery chief executive David Zaslav said last week.
“Two to three years from now you’ll buy that all from one person. We have great, exclusive content to provide, so they’re going to need us.”
Discovery operates international sports broadcaster Eurosport.