Time Warner Updates 2008 Business Outlook (RED INK - Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Yahoo Biz ^ | January 7, 2009 | Staff

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A judgment against Turner Broadcasting System in December following a trial related to the 2004 sale of its winter sports teams, resulting in an aggregate charge of approximately $280 million...

The restructuring of a lease for space in the Time & Life Building, held by a lessee who recently declared bankruptcy, that will require a charge of $50 million to $60 million.

An increase of approximately $40 million in reserves for potential credit losses related to several customers of Time Warner who have recently declared bankruptcy.

The economic environment has proved somewhat more challenging than the Company previously expected, particularly for the advertising businesses at the AOL and Publishing segments, further reducing the expected growth rate in 2008 Adjusted Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization by about one percentage point.

Taking into account these items and operating trends, Time Warner now anticipates that growth in 2008 Adjusted Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization will be around 1%, off a 2007 base of $12.9 billion.

Time Warner also anticipates incurring a non-cash impairment charge on certain of its goodwill and identifiable intangible assets in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Company is continuing its review of the valuation of these assets, but currently expects the charge will total around $25 billion (before any tax considerations) related to goodwill and identifiable intangible assets at the Cable, Publishing and AOL segments. Due to this impairment charge, the Company expects that it will have an Operating Loss in 2008 as compared to Operating Income of $8.9 billion in 2007.

Also reflecting this impairment charge, Time Warner now expects to incur a net loss in 2008, compared to its prior outlook, as provided on November 5, 2008, of Earnings per Diluted Share from Continuing Operations in the range of $1.04 to $1.07.

snip

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TIME

"TIME, oh, TIME
Where did you go
TIME, oh, good, good TIME
Where did you go"

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ping

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http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/01/06/tribune-implosion-datapoint-of-the-day?addComment=true
Tribune Implosion Datapoint of the Day

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=97838
McGraw-Hill Cuts 375 Positions

[abb]

http://bristolpress.com/articles/2009/01/06/news/doc49640070c03a2946065834.txt
New deal set to save Bristol Press

http://bristolnews.blogspot.com/
Buyer emerges for Bristol Press

http://www.observer.com/2009/media/meet-media-mensches-2009
Meet The Media Mensches, 2009

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090107/time_warner_outlook.html?.v=1
Time Warner sees $25B charge, 4Q operating loss
Wednesday January 7, 8:51 am ET
Time Warner expects $25 billion impairment charge in 4th quarter, leading to an operating loss

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http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6626866.html
CNN was reporting late Tuesday that Richard Parsons, former chairman of CNN parent Time Warner, may be in line for Commerce Secretary in the Obama administration.

http://adrianmonck.com/2009/01/newspapers-recreated-reinvented-online/
Newspapers: recreated not reinvented online

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a87gPx6Opxhk
CBS Plans to Reduce Capital Spending to $350 Million

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01062009/business/ew_loses_its_top_editor_148967.htm
EW LOSES ITS TOP EDITOR

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Magazines_22/What_this_year_holds_for_magazines.asp
What this year holds for magazines
More shrinkage and more titles folding or going online

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Media_economy_57/With_new_year_new_layoffs_in_media.asp
With new year, new layoffs in media

[abb]

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/

Something’s gotta give at S.F. Chronicle
Given that Hearst Corp. has plowed more than $1 billion into the San Francisco Chronicle without seeing a dime of profit, it’s a fair bet that something is bound to change at my hometown newspaper.

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http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/
Stage Five: Acceptance

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http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid={9DD07D7F-2974-4E74-99FB-3997DD194CAC}&siteid=nbih
Time Warner sees net loss in 2008
Taking $25 billion in charges; cuts adjusted income target

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for the link to Recovering Journalist.

Jim Davis, the guy who does the Garfield comic strip, was on our local radio yesterday. He talked about how comic strips are in trouble because of the decline of newspapers and how he was glad he had diversified into books, toys, animation, etc.

He said 15 years ago he told the Boston Globe feature guy that they needed to figure out a way to hook kids on the comics, because they were used to television and video games and were not reading comics like they used to.

The Globe guy said "Kids don't drive the advertising, so who cares?"

Davis said, "Well, it's 15 years later and those kids are now in their late teens and early twenties and they ARE driving the advertising, and it's not in the newspapers."

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Closing TIME

[Milhous]

Meet The Media Mensches, 2009

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was in the ballroom at the Plaza Hotel, getting a beating.

Shucks, that teaser led me to believe that Koblin would finally share the back story behind the picture.



Why so serious?

Stage Five: Acceptance

Impending doom does tend to clarify the mind. As some of us have been predicting for a while, the one-two-three punch of the newspaper industry's structural changes (thanks to the Internet, mostly), the rotten economy and, in some cases, foolish financial risk, has put many papers on the brink.

More clarity apparently required for newsies to clearly see the elephant (moose) in the room; their own left of center bias. Lamely dismissed with anecdotal evidence in the form of alleged reader complaints about a right of center bias. Conveniently placing newsies squarely in the middle playing the part of the great adjudicator don't you know?

[abb]

Milhous, do you remember when you and I emailed each other back and forth with spreadsheets projecting the goodwill write downs newspaper companies were facing?

That was back in October of 2006. I still have the spreadsheets. Hard to believe us FReepers could see it coming that long ago and all the geniuses at MNI, NYT, GCI, etc. didn’t.

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http://www.startribune.com/local/37182699.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUX
U student newspaper to eliminate one daily edition

http://bigmedia.org/?p=100
My rejected Rocky column

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/07/technology/lashinsky_google.fortune/index.htm
CEO Eric Schmidt wishes he could rescue newspapers.

[SevenofNine]

Would that be funny if we found out only networks that in Time Warner family has good ratings is Turner Classic movies LOL!

That be so hystically funny I THINK SO LMAO

Bette Davis films are big rating winners LOL!

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Baby One More TIME

[SevenofNine]

Now that funny LOL!

Even her career is little stall right now

It is funny if we found out Turner Classic movies only rating winner LOL!

[abb]

I got a bunch of them fixed up. Can't wait to use them all.

TIME Of The Season

[SevenofNine]

More like Time of past season LOL!