RSSTime Warner CEO: Sale of AOL's ISP Division Likely
By Ed Oswald | Published September 18, 2007, 4:51 PM
Time Warner is "looking hard" at selling off the internet access portion of its AOL division over the next 12-18 months, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons said on Tuesday.
NEW DETAILS Rumors have been floated in the past about a sale of AOL's US ISP business, but up until now Time Warner -- including Parsons himself -- had denied that it was even a possibility. Parsons did admit earlier in the year that he had been approached by several groups looking to buy the ISP.
AOL was restructured last year to a free ad-supported service, with its ISP taking a backseat to its web-based efforts. While the company still sells dial-up Internet access, it does not market it actively. That refocus has caused a steep decline in subscribers to 10.9 million as of June 30, down some 59 percent from its 2002 high.
Such a sale in the past was not feasible, as the company's ISP was tied into its web properties to a significant degree. Without the ISP traffic, the company would stand to lose much more than it would have gained due to the fact that pageviews would have dropped significantly, thus cutting into ad revenues.
However, now with a much larger portion of its traffic being generated from sources outside the service, such a setup is now more feasible. Parsons said a deal would still be complicated, and not as easy to part with as its AOL Europe ventures.
Whether or not it actually happens is probably dependent upon how successful the company's new advertising efforts are. On Monday, the company announced a relocation to New York City to be closer to the center of the online advertising market.
It also unveiled Platform A, which combines its strengths and properties across a variety of online and mobile advertising properties. If this becomes successful, losing revenues completely from ISP traffic will be much easier to bear.
"The focus right now is let's see if we can build it," Parsons said of AOL, likely indicating Time Warner wanted to take one more shot at seeing if the business could work as is. He also resisted calls for the breakup of his own company, saying he believed for the time being the company as a whole "is greater than the sum of its parts."
Representatives for AOL had no comment on Parsons' remarks, or what it meant for the service itself.
My parents have been AOL members since 1991 and still keep a pay as you go account with them for when they go on vacation to a place where dial up is the only option.
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Thanks for your life story.
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LOL. I was hoping he'd tell us some AOL love stories or adventures!
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Tell them to demand free broadband & wifi-- and only vacation in places where available... and to take their voip & or T-Mobile adapter + cellular with them too.
Sorry but bass-ackwards / au naturel / out of the way spots no longer hold a lure for me when they interfere with my connectedness.... unless if they're uber cheap-- but for that i can hit the Third World and still be connected more often than not.
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Its quite funny actually...
AOL and Time Warner merge, renamed AOL Time Warner, renamed Time Warner, AOL sold off - something tells me it wasn't a good idea in the first place!
AOL UK was sold to The Carphone Warehouse, and its only a matter of time before its renamed TalkTalk (shudders)!
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I'll throw out a preemptive LOL to the company that buys them.
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This is about 5 years late, but better late than never I suppose. One major problem, though...
...Who's gonna buy it?
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Wait till they move to the pink sheet stock market (penny stocks) then a garbage man can buy them :)
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heh. don't knock all PKs though ... nintendo's one and it's up past 60 now.
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I'll offer £10.
As I'm feeling generous, I'll throw in a packet of cheese and onion crisps.
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