A STRING of America’s biggest media groups, including Pixar, the animation studio, and the troubled Time Warner, are examining counter offers for The Walt Disney Company in an effort to spoil Comcast’s $62 billion (£33 billion) hostile bid.

Pixar, whose chairman is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, which until last week was involved in a joint venture with Disney, is understood to be looking at forming a consortium of financiers to counter Comcast’s bid.

A spokesman for Mr Jobs would not comment, but a Pixar source said: “Steve is looking very closely at this.”

Senior Wall Street sources told The Times last night that Time Warner had also called an emergency meeting with its bankers late on Wednesday, just hours after Comcast’s audacious bid was made public.

Time Warner declined to say whether it would make a counter offer, which would have to exceed Comcast’s, although a spokeswoman refused to rule out the possibility. The spokeswoman conceeded, however, that the group had yet to engage its bankers.

There was also speculation that Barry Diller’s Interactive Corporation, an internet and media firm, was talking to bankers about a counter offer for Disney, as was Liberty Media, owner of the Discovery Channel, led by John Malone. However, neither company would comment.

The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has ruled itself out as a potential bidder for Disney.

Analysts expressed doubts that Time Warner would be able to proceed with a bid for Disney. The company is still reeling from the disastrous merger with AOL, which has left it saddled with $20 billion of debt.

However, a Time Warner spokesman said: “Comcast’s bid for Disney validates our strategy of combining content with distribution, as we did with AOL.”

Disney remained resolute at its annual analysts’ conference in Florida last night.

Tom Staggs, chief financial officer, avoided mentioning the Comcast bid. “We realise our overriding goal is to manage The Walt Disney Company in the best interests of our shareholders,” he said.

Robert Iger, chief operating officer and president, told analysts that the company was poised for a growth spurt.

“We believe the company’s performance in 2003 and the strong outlook for 2004 signal the beginning of the next period of growth for the company,” he said.

The analysts were waiting for Michael Eisner, Disney’s chairman and chief executive, to take the stage so that they could question him about Wednesday’s hostile bid.

Mr Eisner was expected to address the conference later in the day.

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