ears. Time Warner has been on the cutting edge of technological breakthroughs. For instance, they were quick to adapt to the introduction of DVDs. The introduction of their high-speed Internet access, called Road Runner, launched a service that currently has 70+ million cable subscribers.(www.timewarne.com/corp) The company is the most advanced business as far as digital cable goes; rolling out its first phase in early 1999. Time Warner commands a very high CPM(cost per minute per thousand homes) from its advertisers buying spots on its cable networks. With this high CPM and other performance measures, Time Warner is considered the market leader in the Media Conglomerates industry.Time WarnerPast MergersThe original merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. was anything but ideal. In an article written about the merger, it was described as "years of personality clashes, turf battles, financial burdens, and business missteps that have hampered the combined companies ability to make its sum worth more than the parts." (Hofmeister, D1) For one, Time Warner Inc. had a hard time leveraging its assets, which led to the question of whether or not the assets had become unmanageable. With a structure that is complicated and confusing, investors often stayed away from buying shares because they had neither the time nor the expertise to understand the company. Even before these issues were resolved, Time Warner decided to acquire Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. In many ways, this acquisition was strikingly similar to the first. It combined a bureaucratic company with a company of entrepreneurial concern. In addition, the merger with Turner led to an "intersection of interests". Not only were personalities conflicting, but there was also a duplication of operations. This resulted in job reductions at both Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner in an effort to eliminate any overlapping operations that took place with the...
