Time Warner Inc

The New York-based media and entertainment giant, burdened by heavy debt since its 1990 merger, became profitable by the end of 1992. Time Warner has whittled its debt to about $15.5 billion from a high of $17 billion. While it ended 1992 in the red, it increased its per-share earnings 60.8% over 1991. Chairman Gerald M. Levin, named to succeed the late Steven J. Ross, said that Time Warner intends to turn its non-performing assets into performing ones.

Time Warner Inc. wants more juice out of TMZ, the celebrity website that is the brainchild of former Los Angeles TV newsman Harvey Levin. The media giant hopes to wring more advertising revenue out of the property and use some of the money to expand the news operation, according to people close to the site who were not authorized to speak publicly. That's the plan once Time Warner takes full control of TMZ today, when the media giant spins off AOL to shareholders. Since its launch by former KCBS-TV Channel 2 reporter Levin in December 2005, TMZ has been run as a partnership of AOL and the Telepictures unit of Warner Bros.

The owners of Sunset magazine, which has set the tone for Western living with stories ranging from cooking tips to conserving wilderness, said Tuesday that they had agreed to sell their publishing company to Time Warner Inc. for about $225 million. The agreement will end more than six decades of Lane family control of the monthly magazine, which was originally founded by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1898 as a publicity tool to encourage travel to the West. L. W. (Bill) Lane Jr. and Melvin B.

When it comes to talking smack about the movie business, just leave Warner Bros. out of it. That's the word from Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes. On a conference call with analysts Wednesday, Bewkes said Warner Bros. was marching toward its most profitable year ever. There's a "perception that film is inherently a low-return or volatile business," Bewkes said, referring to widespread negativity about the movie industry this year amid wrenching changes in consumers' viewing habits and a rash of cost-cutting.

Executives of Time Warner Inc. described it as one of the largest magazine-advertising campaigns ever--a 32-page insert that will reach about 80 million readers of Time, Life, People, Fortune and Entertainment Weekly this week. But one prominent media critic called it a prime example of intra-company back-scratching that is "anti-competitive" and smacks of "self-dealing" by the giant media concern.

* Time Warner Inc. was sued by Alaska over Time Warner's acquisition by America Online Inc. The state claims it lost $70 million because AOL misrepresented sales and income in 2000.

Time Warner Inc.'s $3-billion rights offering reportedly will be reviewed by the SEC. The review, which is expected to take 30 days or longer, could delay completion of the offering. The SEC declined comment. A Time Warner spokesperson described the review as routine.

Time Warner Inc. plans to file for an initial public offering of its cable television unit shortly after completing the purchase of Adelphia Communications Corp. assets. Papers would be filed "as soon as possible" after the expected close on July 31 and no later than January 2007, said Mark Harrad, a spokesman for Time Warner Cable.

Time Warner Inc. had its debt rating cut by Moody's Investors Service after the company increased its share buyback plan to $20 billion. The rating on $28 billion in unsecured debt was reduced to Baa2, Moody's second-lowest investment grade, from Baa1.

A strong "Hangover" wasn't enough to keep Time Warner from becoming the latest media conglomerate to get hit by the soft advertising and DVD markets. The parent company of Warner Bros. reported a 34% decline in net income to $519 million and a 9% drop in revenue to $6.8 billion for the second quarter. Results were dragged down by troubled online division AOL, which will be spun off into an independent company later this year, and magazine group Time Inc.

A plan by Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. to ensure that people who watch TV on the Web are already cable-TV subscribers faces several hurdles, including the technical -- a workable encryption system -- and the political -- whether consumers will view it as an attempt to wall off free content.

Citing irreconcilable differences, Time Warner Inc. said it was legally separating from its much younger spouse, America Online. The marriage, which was announced to great fanfare in January 2000, had been on the rocks practically from Day One -- doomed from the get-go by lofty expectations of a new power couple that could dominate the media landscape for generations to come.

A high-ranking but relatively unknown Google Inc. executive will take the helm of AOL from television-industry veteran Randy Falco, Time Warner Inc. said Thursday. Tim Armstrong, formerly head of Google's North American and Latin American advertising sales and operations, will take over as chief executive of Time Warner Inc.'s struggling Internet unit. "Tim is the right executive to move AOL into the next phase of its evolution," Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes said in a statement.

Media company Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that it expected a fourth-quarter charge of $25 billion to write down the value of its cable, publishing and AOL assets, leading to a loss for the year. New York-based Time Warner said its results, particularly for its AOL and publishing assets' advertising operations, had been pressured by economic conditions that were more difficult than it initially anticipated. Time Warner's cable television arm, Time Warner Cable Inc.

Declines in revenue and operating income at Time Warner Inc.'s struggling AOL division crimped the media giant's results in the second quarter, despite strong gains in cable television and a solid performance at its movie studio. Time Warner reported net income of $792 million, or 22 cents a share, for the second quarter ended June 30, down 26% from $1.07 billion, or 28 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Time Warner Inc.'s cable television unit is developing a service that will allow viewers to replay TV shows after they have aired, heightening competition with digital video recorders from companies such as TiVo Inc. Stamford, Conn.-based Time Warner, the second-largest U.S. cable company, may start its "Look Back" service next year, said Peter Stern, executive vice president of product management.

Time Warner Inc. Prepares to Sell Interactive Unit: The New York-based media giant has hired Wasserstein Perella Securities to find a buyer for its Time Warner Interactive unit, according to a person familiar with Time Warner's strategy. The division, which makes CD-ROM and arcade games, is being sold because the CD-ROM operations will be concentrated within Time Warner Inc.'s other divisions, including Warner Music and Warner Bros. films, the source said.

Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday it would formally split off its cable TV business, giving the media conglomerate a $9.25-billion windfall and allowing it to focus on cable network, entertainment and publishing operations. The separation of Time Warner Cable Inc. would get Time Warner out of the media distribution business altogether, something investors had been clamoring for.

Time Warner Inc. said it would eliminate 450 positions at its New Line Cinema unit after the decision to combine the studio with the Warner Bros. Entertainment division. Forty to 50 people will remain with New Line and about 40 will be offered jobs at Warner Bros., a spokesman said.