Warner-Universal: Can you dig it?

Let’s say TimeWarner decides to sell off all of AOL, according to estimates a successful sale of the online giant, could fetch in the neighborhood of $18 billion. What would TimeWarner do with this chunk of cash? Well there have been suggestions that CEO Jeff Bewkes should kick the tires on NBC Universal if and when General Electric decides to sell it after the 2008 Olympics, possibly creating a new media giant called Warner-Universal. But how would a Warner-Universal look? Well for starters a merger would result in a major sell off of redundant units, not to mention a massive layoff. NBC Universal is home to MSNBC which competes with TimeWarner's CNN. Would the two be merged, or would MSNBC be put on the block in favor of CNN. How about the movie studios? Would a Warner-Universal hold on to two major movie studios by merging them to create Warner-Universal Studios, or would one be sold off? More importantly, how would senior management look? Clearly TimeWarner being the buyer would have Jeff Bewkes at the helm, but would NBC Universal’s little big man Jeff Zucker be out of a job, or would Bewkes name him his number two? We think Zucker would be toast. But that’s just us. Today's poll: WARNER-UNIVERSAL: CAN YOU DIG IT? YES MAYBE NO WAY NOT SURE