Time out of time at Time Warner. CSI franchise has new co-owner.

After the coffee. Before asking why I can’t go to South by Southwest.

The Skinny: I need to catch up on FX’s “The Americans.” I’m two episodes behind and if I fall one more behind I may throw in the towel. Thursday’s headlines include Time Warner’s decision that Time is not on its side and a preview of the South by Southwest festival.

Daily Dose: The other day the New York Post reported that NBC would like Howard Stern to replace Jimmy Fallon in late night if Fallon replaces Jay Leno. That could happen but another contender could be ABC. Just throwing this out there but ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel is having success in his new 11:30 time slot and it is only a matter of time before the network retires “Nightline” permanently and tries another talk show at 12:30 a.m. Stern would be an obvious choice and he and Kimmel are already very close, a tipster reminds me. So if it happens, remember where you heard it first.

Out of Time. Time Warner Inc. is spinning off magazine unit Time Inc., publisher of such iconic titles as Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune. While the move was not a surprise, it is still no doubt causing heartache to journalists everywhere. Time Inc. was considered the gold standard of magazine publishing for almost a century. While still profitable, its best days are behind it and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes is focusing the company on television and movies. Interestingly, even though there will soon be no more Time Inc. in Time Warner, the company has no plans to change the name. Coverage from the Los Angeles Times and New York Post.

Did they get paid for this study? A new study from a pair of professors shows that the closing of two big websites that offered lots of pirated movies led people to buy more content legally, resulting in more revenue for Hollywood. Sounds kind of obvious, no? I guess I need to get into academia. Details on the surprising findings from the Wall Street Journal.

Hoping crime still pays. Content Partners, a small financial firm, has acquired a 50% stake in the “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” franchise from Goldman Sachs. It would take too long to explain how Goldman Sachs ended up owning a chunk of a bunch of crime shows. The price that was initially sought was around $400 million. More on the sale from the New York Times.

Every sale has a lawsuit. A media consultant is claiming he got cut out of the sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera even though he brought the idea to the channel, which was founded by Al Gore. The suit, filed by John Terenzio, is seeking $5 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: A preview of what movies will be making the trip to the South by Southwest festival.

Follow me on Twitter for a tour through the dark side. @JBFlint.