Is TimeWarner’s problem, its size, and could a Viacom style break up be the answer to its long standing woes?

-SDH TimeWarner’s CEO elect Jeff Bewkes made it clear in statements following the announcement of his promotion that one of his main focus after taking over the luggy media giant will be to create shareholder value. He didn’t mention any specifics and rightfully so, after all he is just CEO elect. But how does he plan to do this? Many have suggested that he either spin off and/or trim up Time Inc, and/or spin off the AOL unit. But we wanted to play a game of whatifs. Continue... What if Jeff Bewkes and the TimeWarner board were to decide to go the Viacom route and split TimeWarner into two publicly traded media companies, Time Inc and Warner? Would it be more successful than the Viacom CBS split? Doing so would undo a marriage that took place almost two decades ago and would create two new media giants that will now have to battle other giants on their own like Disney, News Corp and NBC Universal to name a few. There may also be some early up hill battles as well, but it could all pay off in the long run. The Time Inc side would be made up by, the magazine business of course, but in addition, the company will consist of the internet properties making it heavy on digital media. By this, the Time Inc company would be the smaller of the two also making it the more nimble. The Warner side would be made up of the more traditional properties, like film, television, and cable networks all Bewkes’ strengths. But who would run what, and would such a drastic change cut away at Bewke’s power? Would he have oversight of both companies? We mentioned in the past that maybe Time Inc needs to be put on a diet, but perhaps it’s all of TimeWarner that needs to be put on a strict diet. The company is seen by many as too big to fully adapt to these nimble digital times. Split in two, a Time Inc and Warner company could get a shot at flourishing and making shareholders and investors happy because God knows they are longing for some happy days, thanks to the lingering stains of the dumbest merger in history. But you may ask why would it work for TimeWarner if it isn’t working for Viacom? But who said it wasn’t working for Viacom? Both CBS and Viacom are doing respectably well based on recent quarterly reports, then again that depends on one’s definition of “respectably well”. But we haven’t seen or heard any reports of shareholder revolt over the split…. Yet. We have no doubt that this is something that is on the table at Time Warner. Bewkes seems to be all about staying on the good side of Shareholders, and rightfully so because at the end of the day he works for them. Jeff Bewkes was a team player under Dick Parsons, but with his turn coming up to bat, he may just surprise us by moving quickly to trim the fat and unclog TimeWarner’s arteries so it can keep up with the new fast moving crowd.