Departure of Time Warner chief could be imminent

Time Warner Inc. said no decision had been made on when Richard Parsons would step down as chief executive of the world’s largest media company.

Parsons may announce the handoff to President Jeffrey Bewkes as early as next week, the London-based Times reported on its website. The topic was discussed at a board meeting in London this week, the Times said.

New York-based Time Warner confirmed the meeting but said the company had no comment.

Parsons has said he wants Bewkes to succeed him when he resigns. Bewkes, who joined Time Warner’s HBO in 1979 as a marketing manager, will face pressure to wring more profit from the company’s studio, cable, publishing and Internet divisions or shed some businesses, analysts say.

Bewkes is “well-liked in the industry by both the creative and the business types, a good balance of both,” said analyst David Joyce at Miller Tabak & Co. “He’s the logical and wise choice.”

Time Warner shares rose 64 cents to $18.35.

Bewkes, 55, pushed for changes that led AOL, the Internet unit, to focus on advertisers instead of paid subscribers, hastening a drop in sales.

Second-quarter revenue at AOL plunged 38% on the loss of 1.1 million paying subscribers. AOL’s ad revenue increased 16%. Time Warner is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Nov. 7.

“There are operational challenges in several of the businesses, including AOL and cable,” said Michael Morris, an analyst at UBS Securities. “Improvement of those businesses, even with the management change, is still likely to take time.”

Bewkes led HBO for seven years, expanding the pay-television cable network with hits that included “The Sopranos,” the crime family series that ran for six seasons and captured 21 Emmy awards, and the comedy “Sex and the City.”

Before being named president, Bewkes was chairman of Time Warner’s Entertainment and Networks Group, overseeing Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and such cable channels as CNN, TNT and the Cartoon Network from July 2002 to 2006.

Parsons, 59, the former president of Dime Bancorp, a New York savings and loan, joined Time Warner’s board in 1991 and impressed then-Chief Executive Gerald Levin, who made him his No. 2 in 1995.

Parsons became chief executive in 2002 after Levin quit amid record losses tied to the combination of Time Warner and AOL. He became chairman a year later when AOL founder Steve Case left.