WARNER BROTHERS - WILL TURNER JOIN ICAHN IN TIME WARNER BATTLE?

Carl Icahn and dissident Time Warner shareholders are hoping to enlist Ted Turner in their effort to overturn the current management of the company, Frank Biondi Jr, the former Viacom and Universal CEO said Wednesday. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Biondi, who has agreed to serve as interim CEO of Time Warner if Icahn is successful, said, "Ted has expressed his frustrations [with the current Time Warner management] in the past. Whether what we have proposed conforms to what he'd like to see we don't know because we haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. But we will." Biondi said that he expects to take over as CEO of the combined Time Warner if Icahn wins, then "migrate" to chairman of the "content" company -- that is, the company principally comprising Warner Bros. and the Turner Broadcasting Co. cable networks -- as soon as Time Warner Cable, Time Inc. publishing, and AOL are spun off.

09/02/2006