ABC, part of the Walt Disney media empire, had been in discussions with AOL Time Warner's CNN about merging the news operations of the two broadcasters since September, but talks have broken down between the two over operational and structural issues. If the deal had gone through, it would have led to massive cost cuts.
The deal would build on the corporation's existing news-gathering agreement with ABC, one of the big six American TV networks. Now, according to reports in the Financial Times, the broadcaster is looking to extend this agreement.
The BBC has been pushing into North America in recent years and provides bulletins to 221 public broadcasting stations in the US already. Its cable service BBC America is now available in more American homes than ever before and BBC programmes are seen on a number of US networks, including the A&E entertainment channel and its lesser-known US equivalent PBS.
If it does enter talks with ABC, it is thought to be unlikely that the extent of the deal will go as far as a full merger. According to reports, the BBC has been closely monitoring ABC's talks with CNN, partly over fears for the future of its news-gathering alliance.
AOL Time Warner and Disney had been looking at merging ABC News and CNN to make a single television news operation, in a move that would have cut costs, given ABC access to CNN's global audience, and given CNN access to millions of US homes.
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