Time Warner Dumps Time Inc., and Wall Street Loves It

Even if the Meredith deal doesn’t go through — and it should — Jeff Bewkes is out of the magazine business. Investors are partying like it’s 2007.

News Byte

Samsung Spins Off LCD Business

Samsung, currently the biggest LCD panel maker in terms of sales, will spin off its unprofitable LCD operations on April 1 into a new firm, called Samsung Display Co. As The Wall Street Journal notes, analysts had widely expected the spinoff, as the LCD industry shrinks and the Korean electronics giant focuses more on higher-margin OLED screens for TV sets and tablets.

As U.S.-Listed China Internet Stocks Dive, Renren CEO Smacks Alibaba on the Way Down (And Gets Smacked Back)

As Chinese Internet exec Joe Chen of Renren snipes at a competitor there, there’s a bigger problem for that country’s Web companies.

Yahoo Preps for Investor Day Tomorrow, While Investors Prep for a Yahoo Grilling

It’s time for Yahoo’s annual meeting with its investors tomorrow. On the menu: Not-so-tasty Chinese issues, with a side of stock decline.

Doink Doink! “Law & Order” Case Gets Closed.

NBC is dropping “Law & Order” after 20 seasons. Here are the two things you’ll always remember about the show: Its signature sound effect and its signature actor.

Exclusive: News Corp. Digital Media Group Contemplates Spinoff and Equity Sale of FAN

While there have been reports that News Corp. is selling off its advertising unit, Fox Audience Network, the company has actually been in talks with a variety of private equity firms about spinning it off and selling only a 20 to 30 percent chunk of it. Such a deal might not happen, of course, but the strategy behind this approach is related to a desire to create a strong consortium of advertising networks to fight the growing power of Google in the race to match display ad buyers with display ad sellers.

More Layoffs at RealNetworks

“Simplify, restructure and grow.” That’s the new internal mantra inside RealNetworks and the one under which the company continues to cut jobs. On Thursday, Real said it would sack another four percent of its work force, about 60 employees.

Tweet the People: Twitter VC Wilson and Federal CTO Chopra Talk Policy in D.C.

Ms. BoomTown went to Washington, D.C., this week to moderate a panel that looked at the future of the digital arena for an event marking the 25th anniversary of the .com domain. Surprisingly, the panelists did not talk about geo-location jet packs and augmented reality for everyone. Instead, due to their proximity to pols and government bureaucrats, they went wonkish.

AOL Spinoff Done. Now, What Have You Done for Me Lately, Tim Armstrong? (Though Woz Loves You!)

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong got right into it after the Internet giant spun off from its parent company, Time Warner, today. In what were very short remarks to the press in a conference call, Armstrong went into a very short history of AOL, which is an astonishing 25 years old this year. AOL brought more people online at the dawn of the consumer Internet, noted Armstrong correctly. Whether the company will play such a significant role going forward is, of course, the big question.

Weekend Update 11.21.09–The House of Cards Edition

In tough economic times like these, even the biggest businesses get the urge to restructure, reorg and reshuffle. Kara reported on several big breakups (of the tech variety), including the separation of AOL from Time Warner. Even ICQ got into the mix.

AOL’s Mass Layoffs Will Cost $200 Million

HP to Merge PC and Printing Divisions?

Time Warner’s $4.2 Billion AOL Fire Sale

Weekend Update, 4.11.09