Jeffrey Bewkes, who oversees a company that includes the TNT, TBS and HBO cable networks, also predicted a “massive amount of competition” for Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Hulu LLC as more content owners make their TV shows available through operators on demand and online and as cable and satellite companies improve their experiences.

“When all of the content on the big screen works like the content on the little screen what will happen? The programming will trump the interface,” he said.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Numbers like that don’t speak well to AOL’s future as a successful advertising venture. And with losses in its access business mounting (604,000 subscribers in the second quarter alone), the division isn’t in the best of health. Little wonder, then, that Time Warner (TWX) announced today that it will indeed split AOL’s dial-up-access business from its advertising and content business. Beginning in 2009, the two divisions will be run independently. “We’ve now made key financial and strategic decisions that will enable us to operate the access and audience businesses separately,” Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said on a conference call with investors this morning. “We have the necessary flexibility to do something strategic with either of these businesses today.”

Translation: Either could be sold or merged with another company. And, according to people familiar with the situation, Time Warner hopes to do one or the other with both divisions. The company has recently held informal discussions with Yahoo and Microsoft about AOL’s advertising and content business. And it’s said to be aggressively searching for a buyer for its access business.

Numbers like that don’t speak well to AOL’s future as a successful advertising venture. And with losses in its access business mounting (604,000 subscribers in the second quarter alone), the division isn’t in the best of health. Little wonder, then, that Time Warner (TWX) announced today that it will indeed split AOL’s dial-up-access business from its advertising and content business. Beginning in 2009, the two divisions will be run independently. “We’ve now made key financial and strategic decisions that will enable us to operate the access and audience businesses separately,” Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said on a conference call with investors this morning. “We have the necessary flexibility to do something strategic with either of these businesses today.”

Translation: Either could be sold or merged with another company. And, according to people familiar with the situation, Time Warner hopes to do one or the other with both divisions. The company has recently held informal discussions with Yahoo and Microsoft about AOL’s advertising and content business. And it’s said to be aggressively searching for a buyer for its access business.