Jeff Bewkes, the Stanford MBA behind HBO's huge success, took over as CEO of BloggingStocks' parent, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) this January. The New York Times reports that he wants to get rid of everything he inherited except selected "content providers" -- e.g., people who make movies and TV programs and write articles in magazines. But would such a strategy make Time Warner's stock an attractive investment?

I don't think so. The reason is simple. Warner Brothers produced an enormous hit with Dark Knight -- the LA Times reports that its revenues so far total $441 million domestically and are expected to hit $520 million. Dark Knight's success is not typical -- it's an outlier. That's because the movie business is a huge gamble as is any enterprise that depends on the fickle combination of talent and audience tastes. Hollywood often overcomes this problem by getting wealthy individuals to pony up to finance films on the hope that they might get to rub elbows with the stars.

Meanwhile, Bewkes wants to dump the cable business. He plans to spin off 84% of Time Warner Cable to shareholders. He plans to sell AOL. And it looks like he'll try to dispense with most of Time Warner's magazines. This would leave Time Warner a much smaller company with lower return on assets -- by my rough estimate based on doubling the revenues and operating income of its first half results for the remaining Filmed Entertainment and Networks segments.

Depending on who is doing the measuring, The Weather Channel is one of the most widely watched 24-hour cable networks. Weather.com is among the top 15 or 20 most visited websites in the U.S. Since there are very few media properties of this size on the block, they are especially valuable.

Landmark, the owner of The Weather Channel, has put it on the block. It wanted $5 billion. The rumors are that it will get $3.5 billion on a good day. The last two companies kicking the tires were Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and NBC Universal. TWX has apparently dropped out.

Although the media conglomerate has over $9 billion in money coming in as it finishes its spin-off of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), management cannot afford to be viewed as overanxious. Paying too much for a large asset would not make the new era of shareholder value under recently appointed CEO Jeff Bewkes look like it is off to a terribly good start.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "Time Warner withdrew after Landmark told the media company it needed more time to make a decision." That probably means the seller is holding out for more cash.

For Time Warner, it is a shame. Its cable networks, CNN and Turner, do particularly well. Putting The Weather Channel with them would have built that business. Online, TWX has big properties like AOL and CNN.com, making Weather.com a good marriage.

It all made sense, except the price.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Next Wednesday, April 30, in the early pre-market hours, we'll get to see earnings out of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). Estimates for the media conglomerate from First Call are 23 cents EPS on $11.39 billion in revenues, although these numbers may be higher or lower after four more trading sessions have passed. Next quarter estimates are 25 cents EPS on $11.37 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal December 2008 are $1.09 EPS on $47.74 billion in revenues. Over the last 90 days, the estimates have come in slightly.

While shares have gotten back over $15, Time Warner's 52-week trading range is $13.65 to $21.97. What is interesting is that there have not been all that many major analyst calls out there. Analysts also still have an average price target north of $21.

It's too soon to provide any options or chart analysis, but the volume has been extremely light in stock options. That might indicate that traders are not expecting any major announcement for a turnaround.

One thing we may learn about are the old rumors that AOL is looking to get between Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) over that proposed merger. Whether or not this occurs or whether or not this is even addressed ... well, that is up to Mr. Bewkes.

Note: Time Warner is the parent company of BloggingStocks. Jon Ogg is a producer and editor of the Special Situation newsletter for 247WallSt.com.

I am pondering why I am still hanging on. My cost basis was $12.10 and we sold half our shares in the low $20's amid the flurry of news about Carl Icahn, share buy backs and breaking up the company. I sold some stock and he sold some stock, I kept some shares and he kept some shares. Mine are of little consequence except to me. His are of the utmost importance to everyone.

As long as Carl still has some hope, should we? TWX is trading around $14 these days. This is a story of a company going nowhere fast. It has been improving AOL over the past few years and the site is very good in my estimation. But that does not seem to be producing much growth.

As AOL improves, so do the competitors and to a large part the status quo continues. From my perspective, the Web business is just a spending game where the stakes keep increasing but the rewards are not always tangible. (Disclosure: AOL is the mothership for BloggingStocks.com which by many metrics has been very successful, but our success has limited impact on AOL's overall revenue).

A recent SEC filing laid out the "upside" part of executive compensation for Jeff Bewkes, president and CEO of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX). He has received options that gives him the right to acquire 1.5 million shares of common stock. Bewkes' new options have a $14.92 exercise price and will vest over the next four years.

Bewkes already received options to purchase 950,000 shares in December in connection with his new employment agreement. Former CEO Richard Parsons still remains chairman and he has received 106,500 restricted stock shares and an option to acquire 319,400 shares.

If Bewkes and the team perform and this stock goes back up to $20, Bewkes would net an extra $7.62 million in gains before taxes.

This does not look egregious at all when you consider the situation. Bewkes stepped in right when the economy started a serious slump and negative stock performance had already started well before that. It may take some time for Time Warner's stock to get back up to $20 because of the economy and the bite of the bear market. Shareholders should be glad to see that he has some serious incentive to perform.

Time Warner shares gained 37 cents, or about 3%, today to close at $14.84. The 52-week trading range before this was $14.64 to $21.97. This stock ended 2007 at $16.45 and shares were above $18 last November.

Bewkes is known for being decisive and making changes based on the numbers, so don't be surprised if there are more changes than these down the road.

In fact, Bewkes noted that Time Warner will be cutting $50 million in corporate spending, with a target of 15% cost reductions on the corporate side of the business.

With investors everywhere trying to read the tea leaves and see what the future holds for Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), the seemingly innocuous comments made by Jeffrey Bewkes and Richard Parsons may provide the best clue as to how things will change when Bewkes takes over:

Parsons, who will stay as board chairman, said in a statement that Bewkes "will have my full support, and I am confident that Jeff will deliver a new era of growth for all of our company's important stakeholders."

Bewkes added: "We have a lot to do, and I'm intensely focused on building shareholder value."

(emphasis added)

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) announced that CEO Dick Parsons will step down at the end of the year. Current president and chief operating officer (and former head of HBO) Jeff Bewkes will replace him.

Bill Martin, editor of FindProfit observes, "The move comes as little surprise as Parsons' contract was running out in May 2008, and Bewkes had been groomed to be his successor." Parsons, he notes, will remain chairman.

The advisor explains, "The bottom line is that by all accounts, Bewkes is a solid executive, and one who may be apt to break up the media conglomerate. TWX has taken some limited actions under Parsons to unlock value by listing Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) shares and selling several magazines.

"Bewkes, however, is likely to take the restructuring a step further, including possibly spinning off AOL and TWC completely and selling the entire publishing division. As witnessed by today's reaction to the announced split-up of IAC/InteractiveCorp. (NASDAQ:IACI), such actions would most likely be cheered by investors.

He concludes, "While we had previously viewed TWX shares as a source of funds, we now don't believe it is time to sell. The stock, trading near a 52-week low, looks cheap, and a new CEO with a penchant for restructuring and unlocking value could be just the catalyst that TWX needs."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment commentary and favorite stocks of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

John K. Martin, Jr., who has served as Time Warner Cable's CFO since August 2005, will leave Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE:TWC) to become the CFO of Time Warner Inc. at the beginning of the new year.

Robert D. Marcus will become TWC's new Chief Financial Officer effective January 1, 2008. Marcus will retain the title of Senior Executive Vice President and continue to direct Time Warner Cable's mergers and acquisitions, programming, human resources and business affairs departments and will add responsibility for all of the Company's financial functions, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, treasury and investor relations.

Marcus joined Time Warner Cable as Senior Executive Vice President in August 2005. Prior to this he served as Senior Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions for Time Warner Inc., (NYSE:TWX) and he served in various executive capacities with the parent company since 1998. Marcus was dubbed by the company as the architect and lead negotiator of numerous transactions for Time Warner Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Time Warner Cable's acquisition of Adelphia Communications Corp. and related transactions with Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), which took place last year.

It sounds like Jeff Bewkes has already been lining up his key personnel to lead the transition period ahead. As a reminder, both companies report earnings Wednesday morning before the market opens.

Time Warner, down 18% this year, trades, at a multiple of 18. Disney, whose shares are little changed, is trading a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 17. News Corp., also little changed, is the most richly valued of the bunch with a forward p/e of 20. All three of them report earnings this week. To put it diplomatically, expectations are low. Disney is probably the most compelling value there because of strong brands and top-flight management.

Revenue at Time Warner is expected to be $1.41 billion, up 14.8% according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Earnings are expected to be 11 cents compared with 19 cents a year earlier. The stock rose today after the company announced that Jeff Bewkes would replace Richard Parsons as CEO starting next year. Don't expect any big changes at AOL, though. The strategy to turn around the Internet unit was developed by Bewkes. The company will come under pressure to divest AOL and other businesses including publishing. Earnings are due Wednesday.

Disney reports Thursday. Analysts aren't expecting much out of the Mouse House. Revenue is expected to inch up 2.2% to $8.98 billion. Earnings are expected at 41 cents versus 36 cents a year earlier. With the record-low dollar, the company's Theme Parks are dirt-cheap for foreign tourists. Earnings also should be helped by the "High School Musical" franchise and a solid performance by the ABC Television network.

There will be plenty of talk about the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) on Thursday's News Corp. earnings conference call. There will also be discussion about the surging popularity of Facebook. Though so far the Fox Business Network has underwhelmed critics, Murdoch will no doubt put a positive spin on the channel's debut. Revenue for the quarter is expected to increase 9.6% to $6.48 billion. Earnings are pegged at 23 cents versus 19 cents a year earlier.