AT&T and Time Warner are reportedly talking about a merger

Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner Inc., attends the Allen & Co Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 10, 2012. Reuters/Jim Urquhart

(Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner.Thomson Reuters)

AT&T and Time Warner executives have met to discuss business strategies that could include a merger, according to Ed Hammond, Alex Sherman and Scott Moritz at Bloomberg.

The talks are informal, and neither side has hired an adviser, according to the report.

Time Warner's share price jumped 5% on the news, while AT&T dropped 2.2%.

Time Warner has been an attractive target for several large companies. Apple considered buying the company earlier this year, according to the Financial Times.

It's also another indication that service providers are getting more and more interested in owning and investing in content. Verizon recently bought AOL and is in the process of acquiring Yahoo. AT&T merged with DirecTV last year.

The Bloomberg report says Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes is a "willing seller," so expect to see more interest around the company.

A spokesperson for AT&T declined to comment.

This is probably a good time to mention that Bewkes and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will both be speaking at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in December. Should be fun!

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