• Bloomberg News, Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:46 PM

Time Warner was forced to write down the value of its cable, publishing and Internet assets by about $25 billion in the fourth quarter, leading the media giant to an overall loss for 2008.

According to a statement made by the company on Wednesday, the weak economy has hurt AOL and its publishing unit more than expected. At a conference in New York last month, Chairman CEO Jeff Bewkes described advertising sales as "disappointing."

Time Warner shares fell 71 cents or 6.5% on the news. The company's share price lost 39% of its value last year. "It's a little startling (Time Warner) didn't have a handle on this decline in advertising," Fred Moran, an analyst with Stanford Financial Group, told Bloomberg News. "The trends were readily available, so this downward adjustment is definitely surprising."

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