Parsons Set to Leave Time Warner

Merger continues to be cautionary tale

(NEWSER) - Time Warner’s net income tumbled to $1.09 billion this quarter, compared to $2.32 billion a year earlier, thanks to a deeply underperforming AOL division, the Wall Street Journal reports. AOL last year dropped Internet-access fees, and with them 38% of its revenue, to focus on advertising. But the company expects already-low ad growth to slow next quarter, as search revenue declines. 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»

Conglomerate takes $25 writedown as publishing, Net assets cheapen

(NEWSER) - Time Warner reported a shattering fourth-quarter loss of $16 billion, prompted by plunging ad sales and a $25 billion goodwill writedown to reflect the decline in cable, publishing, and Internet assets, Bloomberg reports. While the media conglomerate took a hit from plummeting revenue at AOL and its magazines, rising revenue from cable systems and TV networks softened the blow. More»

President of lagging media giant promoted; Parsons still chairman

(NEWSER) - Time Warner named Jeff Bewkes its new CEO today, effective Jan. 1, reports the Wall Street Journal. Bewkes, currently the president, will take over from outgoing CEO Richard Parsons, who will remain chairman of the struggling media giant. "We have a lot to do, and I'm intensely focused on shareholder value," said Bewkes. More»