AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

The Wall Street Journal
Time Warner’s Glenn Britt Sees Freedoms, Threats As Unit Readies for Spinoff
Media giant Time Warner Inc.. will soon spin off its Time Warner Cable arm. The plan puts a spotlight on 59-year-old Glenn Britt, who for seven years has led the unit, the nation’s second-largest cable company after Comcast Corp. All told, [...]

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The Wall Street Journal
Murdoch, Microsoft Consider Joint Bid; Google Ad Pact
Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL are closing in on a deal to combine their Internet operations, a move aimed at thwarting Microsoft Corp.’s effort to acquire Yahoo, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
But Microsoft is recrafting its assault plan by talking with [...]

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Seeking Alpha blog

Fascinating post today by Henry Blodget on Silicon Alley Insider asking whether Google (GOOG) will soon force Time Warner (TWX) to take AOL public.
As Blodget notes, Google in December 2005 spent $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL. Terms of the deal say that starting July 1, 2008, Google has the right [...]

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Iger touts Internet but taunts VOD — Hollywood Reporter

Message to cablers from Robert Iger: VOD is too complicated.
The Disney CEO said Thursday that cable TV companies need a Google-like search mechanism if VOD is to reach its full potential. Type in “rat DVD” at Google and you’ll easily find “Ratatouille,” he said, but that’s far [...]

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Time Warner Names Bewkes as New CEO - The Wall Street Journal
Time Warner Inc. made the long-awaited announcement Monday that President Jeff Bewkes will assume the chief executive post starting Jan. 1.
The move is part of Chairman and CEO Dick Parsons’s move out of the company’s leadership. The 59-year-old executive, whose contract expires in May, [...]

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