However, acquiring CBS is far from a done deal.

He said he moved to acquire CBS as a way to try to revamp Westinghouse.

When the Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired CBS last year, it agreed to air three hours of educational children's programming a week.

Sure, our first deal was Westinghouse acquiring CBS, but that was 25 years after I started.

If Westinghouse succeeds in acquiring CBS, it would become the nation's largest television station owner, with 15 stations covering roughly 33 percent of the nation.

Even if Microsoft provided financing, Turner would find it complicated to acquire CBS.

The company, the nation's biggest broadcaster since acquiring CBS in November, confirmed that separate stocks were among the options it was considering.

In 1995, Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired CBS for $5.4 billion.

"It is now crystal clear to me," he said, that Mr. Tisch had followed a plan "to acquire CBS without paying a premium."

In 1985, Ted Turner, the cable television entrepreneur, tried unsuccessfully to acquire CBS with a package of high-risk securities.