Time Warner is said to have been in discussions with investor groups including Goldman Sachs and Apax Partners, where former BBC director-general Greg Dyke is an adviser.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Dyke, who has long had his sights on ITV and another top job in broadcasting, will spearhead the bid.
The paper goes on to say that the three companies are considering a bid of 165p a share. This would be a significant premium on today's price of 132p -- an increase of 5.5% from the previous day's trading.
Earlier this year, David Elstein, the former head of Five, was rumoured to be putting together a bid for ITV with Sparrowhawk.
However, Elstein brought an end to the speculation, saying that a deal would be hard to achieve given that an estimated offer price of 160p would leave the finance house little room for manoeuvre.
As well as HBO and CNN, Time Warner owns Warners Bros film studios, New Line Cinema, AOL, IPC Media and Time Inc, which publishes more than 140 magazines.
ITV refused to comment on the reports.
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