Time Warner Posts $16B Loss on Declining Media Value

Internet firm could split dial-up, advertising arms

(NEWSER) - As AOL shifts to focus on content, the Internet firm is considering breaking off its dial-up Internet service arm and then merging with Yahoo, insiders tell Reuters . Yahoo hasn’t been contacted about the plan, which echoes a move Time Warner considered in 2008 and 2009 before spinning off AOL. That plan could have seen AOL sell its dial-up service to EarthLink and merge its display advertising arm with Yahoo. More»

Roughly 2300 will get the boot after spin-off

(AP) - AOL says it plans to cut about a third of its work force once it is spun off from Time Warner. That would amount to nearly 2,300 of the roughly 6,900 workers at the struggling company. AOL said in a securities filing today it will impose the cuts on a voluntary and involuntary basis. The company hopes the move will trim annual costs by about $300 million. Time Warner said this week that it will spin AOL off to investors Dec. 9. More»

(NEWSER) - TMZ left its more savory rivals in the dust yesterday, reporting Michael Jackson’s cardiac arrest and death before any other media outlet, the Chicago Tribune reports. The AOL gossip website reported Jackson’s death at 2:44 local time, less than 20 minutes after the singer expired. But many outlets were so leery of citing the paparazzi-fueled site that they instead credited the Los Angeles Times, which reported the story online at 2:51. More»

Division to go public by year's end

(NEWSER) - Time Warner plans to to shed its AOL division by the end of the year, the company said today, spinning it off into a publicly traded firm, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many predicted the move when Time Warner tapped Google ad exec Tim Armstrong as AOL’s CEO, and amended its debt agreements to make the move possible. More»

(AP) - AOL is getting a new CEO. Tim Armstrong, a senior vice president at Google, will replace Randy Falco, who took the job in late 2006. Falco is leaving along with president and COO Ron Grant. The shakeup could mean that a Time Warner spin-off of AOL is more likely. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said Armstrong would be "helpful in helping Time Warner determine the optimal structure for AOL." More»