NYT

The Daily News reported the hypothetical possibility that Mike Bloomberg may buy the New York Times. After his term ends. Which would mean sometime in 2010.

Mayor Bloomberg has been encouraged by advisers in his inner circle to consider making a bid for the Old Gray Lady after he leaves office, Newsweek magazine reports.

A source with close ties to the billionaire media magnate told the magazine that a friendly Bloomberg News-New York Times merger appealed to the mayor's sense of "civic-mindedness."

"It is clearly a brand that Bloomberg could help preserve and that he cares about immensely ... and could pay a competitive price" for, the source said of The Times.

Bloomberg declined to comment on the matter. But it is not the first time the idea has been put forth.

Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger raised the prospect of a Bloomberg News-Times marriage in a January column marking his departure from The Journal, which is published by Rupert Murdoch.

2010 is a long way off to ponder establishing a position in a takeover target. Unlike the Bancroft family who recently relinquished ownership of the WSJ, the Sulzbergers control and actively run the Times.

It doesn't help that NYT shares are now priced at almost $21 after falling below $14 in January.

Perhaps I can set up Blogger to automatically repost this in December 2009. That's when I'd even consider looking at NYT (as an investment; I look at the nytimes.com several times a day).