Time Warner Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for the
first quarter dropped to $771 million from $1.2 billion for the same period in 2007. CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has enacted two major plans to simplify the corporate structure at his New York-based entertainment and media conglomerate. At the center of the reorganization are AOL LLC and Time Warner Cable, which Bewkes announced the firm was ready to spin off, having telegraphed the move for some time. The company currently owns 84% of the cable businesses' common stock.
As for AOL, Bewkes wrote in a letter to shareholders: "We began working to separate AOL's declining access operations from its higher-growth audience, communications, community and advertising platform businesses. Key to AOL's business model is strengthening Platform-A, in which we invested almost $900 million in 2007 for such acquisitions as TACODA and Quigo." There was even talk that Bewkes might
combine AOL with another company. The advertising business was a bright spot for them in March. According to comScore,
Platform-A was the No. 1 advertising network, reaching 170,537 million unique visitors in March, or close to 91% of all domestic online users. Yahoo! Inc. reached 85% and Google Inc. 81%, according to the report. -
Baz HiralalGo to the story from FT.comSee Time Warner's earnings releaseBewkes weighs AOL combo and Time Warner Cable spinoffAOL Sites Break Traffic Records in March
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