'Cable Guy' to the rescue at troubled NTL?

Prospective white knight already has interests in Telewest and BskyB...

The US media mogul John Malone could rescue NTL, the troubled cable operator, from its financial strife, if weekend reports are to be believed. Malone is head of Liberty Media and is known in the US press as 'the cable guy'. His firm could acquire up to 51 per cent of NTL. Secret meetings have already taken place between Malone and NTL chief executive Barclay Knapp, according to yesterday's Observer. Knapp needs to make inroads into his company's £12bn debts. Intriguingly, Malone already owns 19 per cent of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and 25 per cent of Telewest. The industry has long predicted that NTL and Telewest will ultimately merge.