AOL haunts Time Warner's Q2
Anyone want to buy a dial-up ISP?
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Ridiculously unwieldy web/telecoms/publishing/TV/music/film production giant Time Warner continues to be tormented by its dial-up Banquo, AOL. The group today posted total profits that were dragged down 26 per cent by declining sales.
Group profits were $792m for the second quarter, down from $1.07bn a year ago, but slightly beating market expectations. Total revenue rose five per cent to $11.56bn.
Execs confirmed widely-trailled plans to split AOL's mismatched ISP and web advertising units by early next year. It's hoped the move will make both a more palatable swallow for any acquirer, as Time Warner bids to offload the businesses.
AOL revenues fell 16 per cent to $1.1bn. Dial-up revenues continue to evaporate. Q2 2008 sent $200m less in subscriptions through the Time Warner till than during the same period a year earlier. Some 604,000 users closed down their accounts.
At two per cent, revenue growth at AOL's webby advertising business was meanwhile nowhere close to making up for the shortfall. Like every other player in the web ad network game, it has been suggested as a possible fit for Yahoo! instead of Microsoft.
Time Warner Cable, which is being spun out to give beleaguered Time Warner shareholders a payday, performed better than AOL. Revenues were up seven percent to $4.3bn from gains in broadband, digital phone and TV subscriptions. ®
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COMMENTS
AOL, and Stealing Time
If you read the book "Stealing Time" it describes the growth of AOL from inception until its ill-fated takeover of TW. It's a good read, but definitely not a recommendation for AOL as a consumer!
Just before Win95/MSN launch M$ did indeed sniff around the 'new kid on the block' that was AOL. The management team at AOL were so aggressive to any proposals then, I doubt M$ would return without their baseball bats....
It's hard to blame TW; they were an old dinosaur during the takeover days, and it was definitely AOL pushing the merger.
AOL made profit because of adverts
Now that some of the business is concentrating on selling adverts to other websites they may start making money again.
Fit
"possible fit for Yahoo! instead of Microsoft."
How about MS rescue AOL? That would kill so many birds with one stone...
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