Southern Cross Media shares have continued their march north on the back of rumours swirling around the potential $4 billion merger with Nine Entertainment Co.

The Australian Financial Review has also reported this morning that two of Southern Cross Media's major institutional investors have indicated strong support for a merger.

As of 10.45 this morning, Southern Cross Media shares (SXL) had  traded as high as $1.625, having closed overnight at $1.575.

The proposed merger would see a considerable strengthening of the TV assets of  Southern Cross currently viewed as the weakest link in the group's portfolio of products.

Any such deal would also cause a headache for Win Television, which would stand to lose its current content supplied by Nine. Win's content supply contract from Nine is currently on a month-by-month basis.

The struggling Ten Network's deal with Southern Cross is due to expire in June.