Fresh from another full-year loss, Ten has declined to comment on a report that hedge fund Anchorage Capital Group had approached Providence Equity Partners about a joint bid for Ten.

But questioned whether Ten would be an independent company in three years' time, chief executive Hamish McLennan said: "In my career in media, those companies that get scale tend to perform better."

Mr McLennan said Ten was looking to boost its revenue streams beyond metropolitan TV.

"In what form that manifests itself, I don't know. But I believe Ten needs to bulk up." He said he had a "completely open mind" on how to do so.

Ten has long called for a watering down of ownership laws, and Mitch Fifield - who represents Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the Senate - has flagged changes but reminded the industry that "consensus is a good place to start to achieve substantial reform".

"Reform is still on the agenda, but it needs to be carefully balanced on those two big concerns: the need for diversity and to be sure that we have enough economically viable media businesses as possible," Fifield told a radio conference on Friday.

Current laws do not block a private equity bid for Ten, but analysts are privately sceptical at one proceeding.

They point to the amount of money that would be needed to improve Ten's programming, and question whether Ten's major shareholders - mining magnate Gina Rinehart, News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch, Crown Resorts chairman James Packer and WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon - would be willing to sell at today's depressed prices.

Under existing laws, News Corp could buy Ten if Lachlan Murdoch did not own radio company Nova Entertainment.

But the prospect of pay TV operator Foxtel, owned by News Corp and Telstra, taking a stake in Ten has raised eyebrows at the competition regulator.

"We would have concerns if Foxtel sought to own a free-to-air station because that could substantially lessen competition in the viewing market," ACCC head Rod Sims told Fairfax Media.

Credit Suisse analyst Samantha Carleton says Ten is facing a "critical" 12 months. "Potential changes to media laws, potential early AFL and NRL renegotiations and potential M&A activity may result in material changes to the free-to-air TV landscape and outlook for Ten," she said.

"A continuation of the status quo would be unsustainable on our analysis and would likely result in further losses, cash drain and additional impairments to Ten's TV licence."

with Jared Lynch