Prime Minister Tony Abbott will meet privately with the heads of the commercial television networks this week as he considers sweeping changes to media ownership laws likely to trigger a round of major mergers.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, currently overseas, is not expected to attend the meetings. Mr Turnbull has argued that the current media ownership laws are outdated in the internet age and need to be updated.

Tony Abbott will meet with free-to-air CEOs on Thursday, including Nine Network's David Gyngell (pictured), Seven Network's Tim Worner and Ten's Hamish McLennan. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

He has recommended to Mr Abbott that the government scrap the "reach rule" preventing TV networks from broadcasting to more than 75 per cent of the population and the "two out of three rule" preventing media companies from owning a TV station, radio network and newspaper in the same market.

Removing the "two out of three" rule would make mergers such as Nine Entertainment Co and Fairfax Media possible, with any further consolidation in the media industry likely to lead to significant job losses.