RSSCEO: AOL Will Stay With Time Warner
By Ed Oswald | Published September 22, 2005, 12:46 PM
Squashing rumors that AOL is on the auction block, Time Warner says it remains committed to AOL, according to comments made by CEO Richard Parsons at a Goldman Sachs media conference. Parsons told attendees that he thought the driver for the company "is going to be AOL in the short term and the long term."
AOL has had a rough go of it since its merger with Time Warner in 2000. The firm was the subject of investigations and lawsuits by the federal government and shareholders alike, leading up to the removal of "AOL" from the combined company's name.
The company has also been steadily losing millions of subscribers. As dial-up access -- AOL's key business -- is dumped in favor of broadband, consumers moved away from AOL onto other providers. Services like MSN effectively trumped the country's largest ISP by striking deals with cable operators and telcos before AOL could react.
However, with the return of Web advertising as a significant source of revenue for online services, AOL is aiming to replace its declining dial-up business with the revenues generated from advertisers.
Parsons says Time Warner will increase investment in the online service and would likely begin to report AOL revenues in such a way that would delineate the two revenue streams. Advertising is expected to make up about an eighth of AOL's total revenue for 2005.
Even more significant changes could be ahead for AOL, including the possible marriage of some of AOL and MSN's services. Although the subject of the talks has not been disclosed, it is believed to either center around the use of MSN Search on AOL, or a merging of the sales forces of the two services.
At the conference, Parsons refused to comment on the rumored talks with Microsoft.
Wont be long...AOL be gone....MSN is next...sing....sing a song sing it loud sing it long...
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AOL will be around long after you are gone. So will MSN.
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too bad,they would have make a perfect match
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Most idiots can at least spell the word "idiot", idiot.
*sigh*
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I'm glad AOL is losing subscribers. It has been horrible since day one.
AOL is for dummy users and people need to learn that AOL is not the "real Internet".
And anytime someone refuses to comment on "rumored talkes with Microsfot" that means that it's happening.
AOL = American idiots On 'Ludes...
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"AOL = American idiots On 'Ludes..."
uhm actually your "cute" little acronym doesn't work that would be AIOL
AOL is the internet on training wheels...granted but for the dummy user? You don't just start as an expert on the internet. Aol is perfect for people who need to learn and the reason aol is still the same is that is what the majority wants. the majority of people like things altogether and bundled
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the dummy can buy..."Internet for Dummies"...by the way your copy is waiting at Barnes and Noble...its on sale LOL.
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i believe the buzzword is AoHell
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If AOL was so horrible since day one, why is it that they ended up with the subscriber base they had. True, they have lost subscribers in recent years, but that's business. Them being acquired by Time Warner hurt them a lot, but AOL is still one of the biggest ISP's in the world and I believe they will stay that way. Horrible since day one? I don't think so.
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