Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is looking to bid for the Los Angeles Times, the paper has reported, adding Murdoch is also interested in buying its stablemate the Chicago Tribune from their parent company, the Tribune Company.

The Times said senior News sources confirmed executives had approached the two investment firms and a bank that hold Tribune's debt – the lenders will become its majority owners once it emerges from bankruptcy protection, possibly within months according to the LA Times.

Rupert Murdoch. Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

The paper said a deal might require a waiver of federal laws that block ownership of newspapers and TV stations in the same market. Murdoch's Fox network has stations in Los Angeles in Chicago. Tribune also has interests in television stations, some of which carry programming from News Corp's TV channels or operate as Fox affiliates.

A bid for the LA Times alone could be worth as much as US$400m, the paper said.

On Friday, News Corp announced Roger Ailes will remain in charge of the Fox News Channel for the next four years. The news ended a protracted period of speculation about his contract negotiations.

The deal means Ailes will remain in control of Fox for the next presidential election season in 2016 and through the 20-year anniversary of Fox News, which Ailes has run since it was set up in 1996.

The terms of the new contract were not released. Ailes is already one of the highest-paid executives in television; he has received a base salary of $5m and a bonus of $1.5m a year for the past several years, as well as millions in additional compensation based on the financial performance of Fox News, according to public filings by News Corp.

In the fiscal year that ended in June, Ailes received $9m, paid in cash rather than stock, as a reward for Fox's record earnings, and $4m in stock awards tied to the performance of Fox Business which he also runs. His total compensation for the fiscal year was $21m, making him the third highest paid executive at New Corp behind Murdoch, who made $30m, and Chase Carey, the chief operating officer, who made nearly $25m.