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CNN Live At Daybreak
AOL Time Warner to Drop 'AOL' From Name
Aired September 17, 2003 - 06:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, though, it's time for a little business buzz. The parent company of this network is getting a name change. What are they going to call it?
Well let's find out from Carrie Lee in New York.
You know we've been expecting this, haven't we?
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We have, Carol, a lot of talk about this in recent weeks. Of course we're talking about AOL Time Warner, parent company of CNN. They have a board meeting scheduled for tomorrow. And several sources say that the company is expected to drop the AOL from the AOL Time Warner name, of course reverting back to prior to 2001 when the company merged with AOL.
Now sources close to the board say the name change is expected to be approved at this board meeting tomorrow. As I said, there's been buzz about this in recent weeks. In fact, the America Online division apparently suggested this to begin with. Sort of ironic, because the AOL division was the golden child of the family when the companies merged in 2001 during the whole Internet boom. But since then, advertising questions, accounting questions surrounding the division has really weighed down the company, a lot of people say.
Now according to the "Washington Post," the company also plans to change its logo and revert back to the TWX ticker symbol that Time Warner used before this merger. And sources also say that it doesn't necessarily mean the company plans to sell or spin-off the America Online unit.
Finally, the "Washington Post" also quoted CEO Richard Parsons as strongly supporting the change and says he wants to move quickly to make this happen. So we'll see what happens.
Also, Carol, AOL Time Warner also recently made a deal to sell the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, also the Atlanta Thrashers, the hockey team, in order to pare down the company's rather large debt load. So a lot happening at the company and we'll certainly know more tomorrow.
COSTELLO: You know I know what you just said, but everybody suspects that they're going to sell AOL.
LEE: Well it's been a lot of talk. And it's been -- it's been a unit that has had some issues. The America Online Internet division has had some troubles, as well as advertising and accounting. So we'll see what happens. COSTELLO: All right. Carrie Lee, many thanks, live from the Nasdaq market site in New York.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 17, 2003 - 06:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, though, it's time for a little business buzz. The parent company of this network is getting a name change. What are they going to call it?
Well let's find out from Carrie Lee in New York.
You know we've been expecting this, haven't we?
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We have, Carol, a lot of talk about this in recent weeks. Of course we're talking about AOL Time Warner, parent company of CNN. They have a board meeting scheduled for tomorrow. And several sources say that the company is expected to drop the AOL from the AOL Time Warner name, of course reverting back to prior to 2001 when the company merged with AOL.
Now sources close to the board say the name change is expected to be approved at this board meeting tomorrow. As I said, there's been buzz about this in recent weeks. In fact, the America Online division apparently suggested this to begin with. Sort of ironic, because the AOL division was the golden child of the family when the companies merged in 2001 during the whole Internet boom. But since then, advertising questions, accounting questions surrounding the division has really weighed down the company, a lot of people say.
Now according to the "Washington Post," the company also plans to change its logo and revert back to the TWX ticker symbol that Time Warner used before this merger. And sources also say that it doesn't necessarily mean the company plans to sell or spin-off the America Online unit.
Finally, the "Washington Post" also quoted CEO Richard Parsons as strongly supporting the change and says he wants to move quickly to make this happen. So we'll see what happens.
Also, Carol, AOL Time Warner also recently made a deal to sell the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, also the Atlanta Thrashers, the hockey team, in order to pare down the company's rather large debt load. So a lot happening at the company and we'll certainly know more tomorrow.
COSTELLO: You know I know what you just said, but everybody suspects that they're going to sell AOL.
LEE: Well it's been a lot of talk. And it's been -- it's been a unit that has had some issues. The America Online Internet division has had some troubles, as well as advertising and accounting. So we'll see what happens. COSTELLO: All right. Carrie Lee, many thanks, live from the Nasdaq market site in New York.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
