Here it is (CBS-AOL rumour)
It looks like I dont have to worry, its CBS that will be eaten up, not AOL.
See 7th or 8th paragraph.
Freeus
AOL, CBS Not Talking On Takeover Talks Report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) declined to comment Monday on a published report that revived rumors AOL, the No. 1 Internet services company, was in talks to buy CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS - news), the broadcast television network.
The takeover talk was the subject of a thinly-sourced report appearing Monday in the online edition of the San Jose Mercury News, the Silicon Valley's newspaper.
The story, by technology gossip columnist Chris Nolan, cited an unnamed source ''familiar with the talks that CBS and AOL have been conducting for the past year.'' The source is later described as someone ''who had heard about the talks between the two.''
Traders cited the Mercury News report for early gains Monday in America Online's stock. The stock swelled further after AOL announced plans to buy When Inc., a provider of a Web-based scheduling service, for an undisclosed amount of AOL stock.
By early afternoon, AOL stock hit a new record level of $155.75, up $5.75 on the day, while CBS stock gained 94 cents to $41.06, both in composite U.S. stock exchange trading.
Spokesmen for AOL and CBS declined to comment.
''We don't comment on rumors and speculation,'' AOL spokesman Jim Whitney said when asked to comment on the whether AOL was in talks to acquire CBS. A CBS spokesman said he had not seen the report, but would not comment on ''rumors and speculation.''
The Mercury News report said AOL could use its spiraling stock market capitalization, now valued around $160 billion, to swallow CBS, with a market capitalization around $30 billion.
The newspaper column also said rumored talks between CBS and Time-Warner Inc. ''apparently have fallen apart.''
'''Mel has decided that's not the way to go,''' a source, described as ''one person familiar with CBS's thinking'', was quoted as saying in Nolan's column. ''Mel'' refers to Mel Karmazian, the chief executive of CBS.
A Time Warner spokesman declined to comment.
Time Warner and CBS broke off talks about six months ago on a potential news sharing deal between CBS News and Time Warner's Cable News Network (CNN), a source at one of the companies told Reuters Monday. The source said the Mercury News speculation could be tied to these widely-publicized talks.
Time Warner's stock was up $2 to $73 in composite U.S. stock market trading.
Speculation of a takeover of CBS by AOL builds on the strengthening ties between the companies. In January, America Online agreed to name CBS its exclusive broadcast news partner -- a deal that helped fuel speculation of a possible takeover at the time.
Terms of the partnership called for AOL and CBS to share advertising revenues generated by running CBS programming on AOL, AOL's CompuServe service and its AOL.com web site.
In return, CBS agreed to showcase AOL on its news broadcasts, including ''60 Minutes,'' ''Face the Nation'' and ''48 Hours.''
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