Morning Fix: 21st Century Fox goes after Time Warner. ‘Big Bang’ wants big bucks.

After the coffee. Before another day at the Beverly Hills Hilton

The Skinny: Another day, another potential media merger to obsess over. We have lots of coverage of 21st Century Fox’s rebuffed offer for Time Warner and we’re pretty sure this won’t be a one-day story. Also, the cast members of “The Big Bang Theory” are negotiating new contracts. Yes, it seems like they do this every year. Also, massive layoffs at Microsoft.

Daily Dose: National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell will face the media today at the CBS portion of the TV critics tour. While he is there to help CBS promote its Thursday night football package, odds are he’ll get lots of questions about the Washington Redskins and concussions. CBS Sports said if its announcers don’t want to use the name “Redskins” they don’t have to. Also there will be Patriots owner Robert Kraft, so maybe there will be some discussion of murder suspect Aaron Hernandez. Should be a public relations bonanza.

If at first you don’t succeed. Although Time Warner has rebuffed 21st Century Fox’s offer to buy the company in a deal valued at $80 billion, few expect Rupert Murdoch to back off. The news of the offer, made last month and rejected last week, drove Time Warner stock up almost 20%. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox wants Time Warner to create an entertainment giant that can push back against big distributors such as Comcast and DirecTV. The question is whether Murdoch, who has overpaid for assets in the past, will break the bank for Time Warner. Coverage and analysis from the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, USA Today, Variety and Hollywood Reporter.

The D.C. dance. Rupert Murdoch is not close to a deal to buy Time Warner, but his rebuffed offer took center stage during a long-scheduled Senate hearing on the video marketplace and media consolidation Wednesday. Former Justice Department legal eagle and current chief executive media watchdog said an “arms race” was going on in the media industry. Although there are few regulations on the books that would stop a 21st Century Fox-Time Warner deal, that doesn’t mean the Department of Justice won’t want to take a long look at what the combination would mean with regards to Hollywood and whether the resulting giant would have too much power over the creative community. The D.C. angle from the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

What about CNN? Assuming Rupert Murdoch is successful in his pursuit of Time Warner (and you can count on one hand the times he’s fallen short of getting what he wants), odds are that CNN would be unloaded. After all, 21st Century Fox already owns the dominant cable news channel in Fox News, and while from a regulatory standpoint they might be able to hold onto Time Warner’s CNN, company brass have already indicated they would spin it off. After all, there are culture clashes and then there are culture wars. Odds are CBS would seriously kick the tires of CNN. The CNN angle from Variety and Reuters.

Big bucks for ‘Big Bang.’ Doesn’t it seem like every year is a contract year for the cast of the CBS hit “The Big Bang Theory?” Well, this time it really is and the cast is yet to sign new contracts even though production is due to start in just a few weeks. Call it a hunch, but this will get done and everyone will be very happy. Details from Deadline Hollywood.

Bad day at Microsoft. While the media industry is busy trying to digest the idea of 21st Century Fox buying Time Warner, the tech industry is reeling from news that Microsoft is cutting 18,000 jobs. The move comes just months after Satya Nadella took over for Steve Ballmer as chief executive. Not sure this bodes well for the company’s entertainment efforts. More from the Associated Press.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Mary McNamara on USA’s new shows “Satisfaction” and “Rush.”

Follow me on Twitter for all your merger mania coverage. @JBFlint.