The sale process of Cox-owned Travel Channel is heating up, as the first round of bids have come in: among them, the obvious names of News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) are there, according to Bloomberg. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) may bid later in the process, the story says. Cox hired Goldman Sachs in June to run the process, after it said it got unsolicited inquiries for sale. The sale could reach as much as $600 million to $1 billion, according to analysts. The first round of bids were due Tuesday, and a deadline for a second round has not been set yet, Reuters reports. It also says IAC may come in, which will be a curio since it doesn’t own a TV property at this point. There is lots of digital upside for the channel, so could be a good fit within IAC (NSDQ: IACI). Of course the most obvious buyer is Scripps.

SEE ALSO: Cox Sells Three Newspapers; Looking To Sell Majority In Travel Channel

Earlier today Cox announced that it was merging its newspaper, TV, radio and digital properties together.