AOL part ways with Time Warner

AOL part ways with Time Warner

The BBC news says that AOL and Time Warner have formally part ways after almost 10 years as one company.

It is said that under the deal that was sealed by the two media giants a consensus was reached, qualifying that shareholders will receive one AOL share for each 11 Time Warner they own.
The BBC on-line news in the technology column revealed that AOL shares will begin trading on Thursday. They will even regain the market ticker symbol they used before the merger. It is important for media students especially those from 3rd World countries to be conscious of such development. Media just like any other business is there to generate profit and deals have to be made to boost the financial status of the organisation

But the company will be worth a tiny fraction of what it once was. Its market value is put at about $2.5bn - 10% of its value at the firm's height.

Media stars in America at the time AOL and Time Warner mergered in 2001, their marriage viewed as the "deal of the century" - one that brought superstars of both old and new media together. In Global media it is a norm that media organisation merge either vertical or horizontal to become one. This apart from making the global media grow big it has some political connotations that can be analysed under the political economy of media.

New media technology is one influential aspect that makes global media to shift position time and again. BBC news says that the separation between Time Warner and AOL came soon after AOL started to look jaded as its once-popular dial-up Internet model was superseded by broadband. Again in media studies students should observe the influential role played by technology in shaping the global media organisation.

Time Warner's long-established collection of TV and magazines proved no bulwark against new developments. It also lost revenue as the media fragmented further. AOL as global media organisation have websites that provides wider services such as the on-line news, emails and so forth.