The Commerce Commission has delayed its decision on whether media giants NZME and Fairfax can merge into one company.

It has been put been off until March.

A decision had been due today, the commission says due to the complexity, it has been put off until March 15.

It said it is continuing to assess the effects of the proposed merger on areas such as the provision of national, regional and local news content and information, including the impact on the quality, accuracy and range of the news media in New Zealand.

The watchdog will now publish a draft decision in early November, which would allow for a public conference to be held in December if needed.

NZME owns a number of radio stations, including Newstalk ZB, as well as the New Zealand Herald; while Fairfax publishes a host of newspapers and the Stuff website.