Broadcasters Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Media have described the existing reach rules - which prevent metropolitan free-to-air networks merging with regional affiliates - as silly, "an anachronism" and something that should be "repealed sooner rather than later".

Fairfax Media asked the Nationals whether they would support the abolition of the reach rules, and the "two out of three rule", which stops anyone owning more than two of a newspaper, commercial TV licence or radio licence in a major market, provided local content rules remained.

A spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said: "There is no proposal before the government at the moment. The Nationals would consider any suggested changes if, and when, they are put forward."

Fairfax Media chairman Roger Corbett has criticised the government for saying it would only water down ownership laws if the industry agreed on new rules, arguing it would be a "failure of government" to stick with the current "archaic" rules. Fairfax publishes The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review.

But Nine Entertainment boss David Gyngell has played down the view that consensus will be necessary.

"You can get majority, but you can't get outright consensus," he told Fairfax Media last week. "I don't think he's quite said that, [Communications Minister] Malcolm [Turnbull]. I think he would like to put the pressure on us to sort some of our issues out, so we do some of the muscle on what we would each compromise on, our uncompromising positions in some quarters.

"And then I would think he would take the majority and not complete consensus outright. But saying all that, we are a difficult mob to put together to say the least, and you wouldn't want to bet your house on it, that it's going to happen."

Mr Gyngell also warned that regional broadcasters faced an uncertain future if the reach rules weren't repealed. It has been speculated that Nine would buy WIN, owned by Bruce Gordon, if laws change. WIN broadcasts Nine content.

He said: "I'm disappointed as an idealistic, passionate television person that if the 75 per cent [reach rule] doesn't change, those businesses will be destroyed over time by being squeezed.

"As our costs go up, they're not going to be able to compete and they're going to deliver worse content to regional Australians. The National Party will be coming to the government in a number of years begging for them to change these rules."

Questioned whether WIN would be its No.1 target, Mr Gyngell said: "We've been in business with WIN for 30-odd years, so we know their business and Bruce Gordon and I go back to my childhood, he was one of my father's closest mates so there's a strong relationship there. But it will come down to which creates most shareholder value."

Nine Entertainment last year sought a $4 billion merger with Southern Cross, which broadcasts content from the struggling Ten Network.