Media companies have generally welcomed the Turnbull Government's sweeping changes to Australia's ownership laws, which would scrap rules that restrict broadcasting and allow more freedom in cross-platform ownership.

Overnight, the Cabinet approved Communications Minister Mitch Fifield's plan, which would allow media companies to own radio and TV stations, as well as newspapers in a single media market, effectively abolishing the "two out of three rule".

It will also scrap the "reach rule" which prohibits any one media company from broadcasting to more than 75 per cent of the population.

In a statement sent to the ABC, a Fairfax spokesman said the company "welcomes Cabinet's decision to remove outdated restrictions in the present legislation".

The Ten Network told the ABC the reforms are an important first step in reforming "outdated laws and freeing up Australian media companies to compete on a level playing field, with overseas based content".

"The rules are now actively hurting our efforts to compete for viewers and for advertising revenue with overseas-based technology companies that are exempt from local media regulation," argued Ten Network chief executive officer Paul Anderson in a statement sent to the ABC.

News Corp disappointed, diversity an issue

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, however, said it is disappointed the changes do not reform anti-siphoning laws regarding pay TV.

Current anti-siphoning laws in Australia stop pay television broadcasters from buying the rights to events the Government believes should be made available free to the public, before free-to-air channels have the opportunity to purchase the rights.

A majority of those protected are sporting events.

In a statement emailed to the ABC, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said the company is disappointed.

"The fact that broader media reform issues such as the anti-siphoning regime are not part of the proposal makes it difficult to accept this as genuine media reform," he said.

Elsewhere, industry experts have flagged diversity in the Australian media landscape may become an issue with the reforms.

"I would say that the Minister will have to look at a lot of protection, you wouldn't want local flavour news, everything that goes on just to disappear into the big city," media buyer and entrepreneur Harold Mitchell told Melbourne's ABC 774 local radio.

Mr Mitchell said, despite the reforms, the biggest change to the sector has been the arrival of digital.

"It took maybe nearly 50 years to get 30 per cent of all the advertising dollars taken away from newspapers," he observed.

"I can tell you within 16 years digital advertising is now about to take 40 per cent of all advertising and that's the great big change that puts aside everything else."