“Senior executives at AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. have met in recent weeks to discuss various business strategies including a possible merger, according to people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg reports. “The talks, which at this stage are informal, have focused on building relations between the companies rather than establishing the terms of a specific transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private.”

Neither side has hired a financial adviser yet, according to the sources.

“Acquiring Time Warner would give AT&T, one of the biggest providers of pay-TV and of wireless and home Internet service in the U.S., a collection of popular programming to offer to subscribers, from HBO to NBA basketball to the Cartoon Network,” Bloomberg notes.

The report adds: “AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has been looking to add more content and original programming as part of his plan to transform the Dallas-based telecommunications company into a media and entertainment giant.”