• by Wayne Friedman , January 18, 2018

With the backdrop of heightened efforts around media consolidation, a new report says mid-size TV-movie studio Lionsgate could be in rivals' sights.

Potential acquirers of the studio include Amazon, Verizon, CBS and/or Viacom, according to Deadline. Some of Lionsgate’s entertainment assets include movie franchises “Hunger Games” and “Twilight,” as well as TV shows such as “Mad Men” and “Orange Is the New Black.”

This comes in the wake of news of a possible re-merger of CBS and Viacom that Shari Redstone, vice chair of both companies, continues to push.

Verizon Communications could be a major contender for Lionsgate. It continues to boost the content side of the business.

In December, Verizon struck an extension of its mobile rights deal for the NFL. Just this week, it made a deal with the NBA, in which sports TV consumers can buy and stream live, out-of-market games via an NBA League Pass on its Yahoo Sports and other Verizon media platforms.

Amazon is already a growing major player in producing and distributing TV/movie content via its subscription video-on-demand service. According to estimates, it intends to spend around $4.5 billion on TV/movie content this year.

Thursday morning stock-market trading had Lions Gate Entertainment up 3.8% to $33.52; Verizon 2.8% higher to $53.19; Amazon slightly down 0.7% to $1,286.06; CBS up 2% to $60.13: and Viacom gaining 1.7% to $32.52.