• by Wayne Friedman , March 9, 2010

"The ad business is showing signs of health -- not just in TV but in magazines," says Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner, in speaking at the Credit Suisse 2010 Convergence Media Conference.

Rating-wise, Bewkes notes: "TNT was a little soft in the fourth quarter, but it's coming back. TBS remains soft because acquired product, such as "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl," hasn't been up to expectations."

He adds that CNN continues to have big earnings and revenue growth, and that CNN is still higher than any year since 2003 on the ratings front.

In his opening remarks, Bewkes reiterated some of his TV Everywhere philosophy: "If you take a consumer enhancement -- on-demand programming, more convenience, interactivity for magazines -- and offer it to loyal users of a media brand, and do it at the same price, then you have a powerful consumer offering. Then you have an economic engine that can grow."

He says strong viewership and a stronger connection for advertising will result. But at the same time, he says Time Warner isn't interested in new platforms that are unproven and offered to consumers at a low price.

"Taking your media product and putting it into some new distribution position or structure -- at a materially lower price -- it is not clear that's a good idea," he adds. That's the main reason Time Warner hasn't joined Hulu.com, says Bewkes. "What we have not done is put content online for free with minimal ad support." Bewkes says it's also why Time Warner magazine content is not available for free online.

Time Warner is in the right businesses, he says. He notes that media usage is up in all areas: television, film, and even magazines. Television usage is up 10% in the last five years, home video transactions are 4% higher from last year (although revenue was down), and magazine readership is 6% from where it was five years ago.

"The biggest brands -- the biggest hits -- are being used more than ever, and becoming more important," Bewkes says. "Digital distribution is fueling this growth in media."

In the past decade, Bewkes says, TV and film usage are holding up very well versus newspapers or music. He says the chief reason is the variety of digital platforms for TV and film, which in part stems from piracy problems.

Bewkes says the company's TV syndication business continues to be good, with "pricing holding up" for its shows. Primarily, he notes that there is a scarcity of scripted TV shows, which helps Warner Bros. Television, as TV networks add more reality TV and alternative programming into their schedules.