Corrects in 8th paragraph that HBO, combined with Time Warner's Cinemax, has 122 pay-TV subscribers worldwide.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It might not officially be on the market, but Time Warner (TWX) may still prove to be an attractive acquisition target.

Though CEO Jeff Bewkes successfully fought off the hostile approaches of Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) - Get Report almost exactly a year ago, Time Warner's HBO NOW has more than demonstrated that it can win streaming subscribers in the Age of Netflix (NFLX) - Get Report. As media and tech companies seek to win viewers at a time when pay-TV subscriptions and television ad spending is declining, making a bid for the owner of HBO may be too tempting to pass up.

"HBO is the crown jewel of Time Warner," Bishop Cheen, a media analyst at SNL Kagan, said in a phone interview. "Time Warner is still attractive and for any of the big caps [market capitalization], HBO is the most-often mentioned angle for an acquisition."

Speculation that Time Warner might find itself in the sights of a possible acquirer grew after the New York-based owner of TBS and TNT reported better-than-expected second-quarter results earlier this month. Time Warner shares currently trade at $79.35, or nearly 7% less than the $85 per share offer Murdoch made for the company in June 2014.

Shortly after Time Warner's board of director rejected Fox's bid, Murdoch withdrew the offer.

Time Warner buyers could once again include Fox as well as Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Report  or even a tech company such as Google (GOOG) - Get Report or Facebook (FB) - Get Report.

"Are they still a target? Sure," said Jimmy Schaeffler, a pay-TV consultant at the Carmel Group based in Carmel, Calif. "The stock being down 6% is reflective of the market, and not the company. If they were valuable a year ago, they still are today and a great [acquisition] candidate."

Industry watchers say the strength of HBO, with its roughly 122 million pay-TV subscribers worldwide when combined with Time Warner's Cinemax, is reason enough to buy the company that also owns Warner Bros. studios and Turner Broadcasting. An acquirer would be well placed to compete with Netflix's dominant position in streaming with its more than 65 million subscribers worldwide.

"It's all about content," Schaeffler said. "And it's hard to slight HBO's content because it's consistent. It's them looking at what will be important three, five, seven years out and getting it right."

Adding to HBO's status is the perception that its HBO NOW standalone service has become a modest hit since the streaming version of HBO was launched on Apple (AAPL) - Get Report devices in April. Since then, HBO NOW has gained about one million subscribers, according to recent data from BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield, and it is now available on Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report Fire tablets and Google's Android products. The service allows consumers to watch HBO programming via Internet streaming and without a cable or satellite TV subscription for $14.99 a month.

The potential for HBO NOW to become a rival to Netflix and add to HBO's operating earnings and sales, also makes the network an enticing piece of a possible Time Warner acquisition. Jeffrey Logsdon, of JBL Advisors, called HBO NOW one of the "fundamental catalysts" for Time Warner, and estimated that if it captured even 25% of the 10 million broadband-only homes in the U.S. in the next few years, it could contribute $275 million to $300 million to Time Warner's operating income, and $450 million to the company's revenue.

"The big picture is if you're a content network, you want to have leverage against distributors," Cheen said. "Everybody's getting into the standalone streaming business to get as much leverage as they can. With HBO, it adds to the strategic reasons for a Time Warner acquisition, and a buyer can get it at a lower price than a year ago."