Murdoch "got the hots" for Kirch Gruppe?

NEWS Rupert Murdoch's News Corp may be on the verge of an audacious bid for rival Kirch Gruppe. Kirch is almost a German carbon copy of Murdoch's group, albeit with a large amount of debt. It has interests in television broadcasting, pay-TV and media rights ownership - as well as a controversial and outspoken founder in Leo Kirch. Today's FT quotes a Murdoch associate as saying: "Rupert has really got the hots for the whole of Kirch right now." There is some speculation that in the wake of Murdoch's failed bid for US satellite broadcaster DirecTV he is looking at ways to cherry pick certain other businesses. Any bid for the whole of Kirch may result in the break up of the company rather than a wholesale takeover. Kirch spokespeople deny any deals are on the table. In the middle of November reports surfaced that US mogul John Malone's Liberty Media may try to buy News Corp's 22 per cent holding in Kirch PayTV. However, a ruling on Liberty's bid for Deutsche Telekom's cable assets - delayed yesterday (http://www.silicon.com/a49795) - may have to be handed down first.