“It’s starting to feel inevitable that Lionsgate and the Starz premium cable channels will merge operations, brought together by the command bond of investor John Malone,” reports our good friend Cynthia Littleton for Variety, where she is managing editor for television.

She adds, “But how quickly the companies will tie the knot is still the subject of much speculation. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the two entities were in advanced merger talks. That was downplayed by insiders at both companies and a senior Lionsgate investor, all of whom acknowledge that the concept of merging has been discussed in abstract but disputed that talks to unite the companies are under way at this time.”

Furthermore, as we reported just 21 days ago, the AMC Networks supposedly were in “preliminary discussions” to acquire Starz, according to Bloomberg.