ABC/Bloomberg, CBS/CNN?

There's a lot of juicy gossip swirling in media circles these days regarding who may be getting into bed with whom -- and the potential players involved are big.

The question of "how big" leads right to ABC News. Deep cuts earlier this year ginned up the rumor mill that the division was being readied for a sale or merger with cash-rich Bloomberg TV. At the same time, persistent speculation about a CBS News deal with CNN bobbed to the surface once again. While those two networks have a history of sharing talent, Katie Couric and her lucrative CBS News contract have been an added, tangential aspect of the merger speculation this time around. It's all understandable: With the news industry battered by a still-foundering economy and splintered media landscape, questions of whether such marriages of convenience and economic viability are the future for broadcast news become inevitable. Meanwhile, NBC Universal and cable provider Comcast await the blessing of regulators on a $28 billion deal that will most certainly have an impact on NBC's news division. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has heaped vociferous praise on NBC News, calling it the "single most awesome asset" of the deal. But NBC staffers remain curious as to exactly what a Comcast-owned NBC News will look like.