Time Warner to spin off cable TV

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The world's biggest media company, Time Warner, has bowed to shareholder pressure and announced plans to spin off its cable television business.

Time Warner Cable is the second largest US operator behind Comcast and became a separately traded company last year, although Time Warner kept an 84% stake.

The announcement came with the release of three-month results that showed net profit fell 36% to $771m (£390m).

Time Warner shares have fallen by a third since the start of 2007.

Much of the weakness has come from concern about the outlook for its online unit AOL, although the whole media sector has been hit by fears that the economic slowdown will hit advertising revenue.

There were no further announcements on the future of AOL, which reported a 25% fall in three-month profit.

In February, Time Warner announced that AOL's internet access business was to be separated from its advertising operation.