Elmer-DeWitt: Apple Should Buy Time Warner

According to Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Apple Inc. AAPL should make a bold move and acquire Time Warner Inc TWX.

Elmer-DeWitt's hypothesis isn't particularly a new idea to investors. He cited a report by the New York Post which suggested that Apple is among several companies that are eyeing an acquisition of the Time Warner.

The New York Post also noted that Eddy Cue, Apple's top ranked "lieutenant" in charge of content deals has been "keeping tabs on proceedings" at Time Warner.

Related Link: Report: Apple Keeping 'Close Eye' On Time Warner Amid M&A Rumors

According to Elmer-DeWitt, the fact that the New York Post is reporting on the rumor gives the potential transaction "street cred."

Outside of the report, Elmer-DeWitt suggested that an acquisition of Time Warner "fits" Apple's ambitions in the online streaming TV segment.

"The idea is that if the programming is good enough, if the price is right, and if the package includes live sports, cable TV subscribers will cut the cord and leave the world of 500-channel TV for Apple's streaming service," Elmer-DeWitt suggested.

Elmer-DeWitt said Time Warner's assets, particularly HBO, is "one of television's jewels." He noted that HBO content is already available on Apple TV, but, if Apple itself owned and controlled the content, it "could throw everything from Veep to Game of Thrones into its bundle for free."

Finally, Elmer-DeWitt pointed out that Apple''s cash balance is in the hundreds of billions. As such, the company can "afford" to acquire Time Warner and is in a "better" position to do so compared to traditional media companies.