AOL Time Warner





AOL Time Warner is a media conglomerate formed in 2000 by the merger of
America Online, the largest internet service provider in the United States
and Time Warner, a media conglomerate in traditional paper publishing, film,
and television.

The merger was and remains controversial in part due to concerns over
monopoly issues (vertical integration). The collapse of the late 1990s tech
industry economic bubble has greatly reduced the company's combined worth,
and in 2002, the AOL component was considered to be the weakest part of the
company.

The following enterprises are, among others, part of AOL Time Warner:

   * CNN, a cable news channel
   * HBO, Cinemax, Turner Classic Movies, cable movie channels
   * TBS Superstation, TNT, The WB, Cartoon Network, cable channels
   * America Online, CompuServe, Internet service provider
   * ICQ, AIM, instant messengers
   * Netscape, Internet browser, portal, and communications company
   * Time Warner Cable, a cable company
   * Time Magazine, a weekly news magazine
   * People Magazine, a weekly celebrity magazine
   * Sports Illustrated, a sports magazine
   * MAD magazine, a humour magazine
   * Fortune, Money Magazine, business and investing magazines
   * Warner Bros., a movie studio
   * Warner Music Group, a music company
   * New Line Cinema, a movie studio
   * Atlanta Braves, a baseball team
   * DC Comics, a comic book company
   * Mapquest.com, an Internet mapping company

AOL Time Warner also owns several other television channels and magazines,
like CNN Headline News and Entertainment Weekly, as well as Time Life books
and music. See Columbia Journal Review's Who Owns What for a complete list.

Financial information

AOL Time Warner is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
AOL. Its market capitalization is US $49 billion and as of mid-February 2003
it was traded at about US $11.07. When the AOL Time Warner merger was
announced in January 2000, the combined market capitalization was US $280 billion.

At the end of 2002, AOL Time Warner announced that it had a yearly financial
loss nearly US $100 billion dollars.