Media Buys for Time Warner?

Time Warner expects to soon find itself atop a mountain of fresh cash at a time when liquidity is scarce, the media industry is in turmoil and valuations are at an all-time low. It all adds up to a rare opportunity for an embattled, old media empire to reinvent itself from a position of financial strength as a pure branded content company for the digital age. But with its stock at six-year lows and its disastrous marriage with AOL a not-too-distant memory, Time Warner said it will forego big acquisitions to focus on rewarding shareholders with steady cash flows from its existing businesses. Analysts say Time Warner is unlikely to consider any broadcast assets that may be offered up by the likes of NBC Universal or CBS Corp. (CBS), though it could entertain film studio assets or cable networks at the right price. Time Warner bowed out of the bidding for the Weather Channel, which NBC Universal acquired last summer for $3.5 billion, because it got too expensive. Cable networks owned by Scripps Networks, like Food Network and HGTV, could be targeted by Time Warner, as could those owned by Discovery Communications; Cablevision's Rainbow Networks division, which owns AMC; and Viacom, which owns MTV Networks and Nickelodeon. Also, having recently consolidated its film division under Warner Bros., Time Warner is looking for growth opportunities abroad in the film business.