July 1 (Reuters) - Billionaire Barry Diller's

digital-media conglomerate IAC is exploring a bid to

take control of Paramount Global ( PARAA ), a person familiar

with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

IAC has entered into non-disclosure agreements with National

Amusements, which holds the Redstone family's controlling

interest in Paramount, the person said.

Shari Redstone, controlling shareholder of National

Amusements, abruptly ended talks with David Ellison's Skydance

Media last month, killing the potential sale of a stake in

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) to the independent studio.

IAC said it does not comment on rumors or speculation, while

Reuters could not immediately reach Redstone for comment.

Earlier in the day, CNBC reported that Paramount was holding

talks with other media and tech companies to determine a viable

structure where its streaming platform Paramount+ can be merged

with another streaming entity and potentially co-owned.

Fears of market saturation have forced media companies to

bundle their streaming businesses and offer discounted rates to

lure customers who are wary of signing up and paying for

numerous individual services.

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) is one of the companies that

has expressed an interest in a joint venture, merging its Max

and Paramount+, CNBC added.

Paramount and Warner declined to comment on the report.

While a structure for a hypothetical joint venture between

Paramount and Warner has not been discussed in detail, ownership

likely would not be a 50-50 split, given the existing nature of

the streaming assets and their finances, per the report.

Paramount's streaming service has more than 71 million

subscribers, far less than Netflix's 269.60 million and Warner's

99.6 million.