Ten Network Holdings and its adviser Citi will continue meetings with potential bidders for the struggling third-placed network this week after meeting frontrunners Discovery Communications and Foxtel last week.
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News Corporation executive chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed last week that Foxtel, which News owns with Telstra, is looking to buy a stake in Ten, but said any deal would not include buying his son Lachlan's stake.
His comment appeared to be a technicality as Discovery would buy Ten, including Lachlan Murdoch's stake, if a successful bid goes ahead, and would sell a stake to Foxtel, it is understood. Foxtel and Lachlan Murdoch cannot own more than 15 per cent of Ten combined, under ownership restrictions.
News is believed to see considerable synergies between Foxtel and Ten in production, marketing and sales, and head office, giving it a potential advantage over other interested parties.
Ten on November 6 confirmed it had appointed advisers from Citi to examine "strategic options" for the network, following Fairfax Media's report about the Discovery/Foxtel approach.
A number of potential bidders have since emerged, including US media giant Time Warner and US private equity giant Hellman & Friedman.
Ten chief executive Hamish McLennan refused to discuss any of the talks.
He said Ten had received an "overwhelmingly strong reaction" from media buyers to its schedule for next year, saying it was seeking a 23 per cent revenue share to match its prime-time audience share. Its revenue share is closer to 21 per cent for the year to date.
