Time Warner Names Bewkes New CEO

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»

Media giant denies report; current No. 2 likely successor

(NEWSER) - Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons is about to announce his departure, sources tell the Times of London, and will hand the reins to current second banana Jeff Bewkes. In his 5-year-plus tenure, Parsons held together the media behemoth after the much-ballyhooed AOL merger went south. Bewkes is expected to shake up the structure, likely spinning off underperforming AOL. More»

Actor endangers 'Dark Knight Rises,' rep suggests

(NEWSER) - Could outspoken Morgan Freeman's politics endanger the success of The Dark Knight Rises? That’s what one Time Warner shareholder warned at the annual shareholders' meeting this week, noting that while Freeman was promoting Dolphin Tale last year, he took the opportunity to call the Tea Party racist during an appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight. A rep for shareholder David Ridenour brought up the incident and noted that filmgoers are less likely to see movies with stars who disagree with them politically, the Guardian reports. 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»

(NEWSER) - Warner Brothers restructured last year to focus on producing blockbusters like The Dark Knight, and now the studio is waiting to see if the move pays off with Watchmen, the Financial Times reports. Warner can finance a slew of films with profits from one “tent pole” movie. “The obvious thing we’re going to take from” Dark Knight, Time Warner’s CEO said, is “more Dark Knight.” More»