• by David Goetzl , February 8, 2012

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said Wednesday the company will continue to increase its investment at TNT and TBS as it seeks “the optimal mix of sports, originals and acquired programming.”

TNT will be launching a new version of “Dallas” this year, while Bewkes said the acquired “Big Bang Theory” has been a boon at TBS.

In the October-December period, ad revenues at Turner globally -- which includes CNN -- increased a slight 2%, partly due to lesser scatter demand, lost games from the NBA lockout and some ratings declines at TNT.

Still, Bewkes said on an earnings call that interest in the NBA has returned with “every indication …that the lockout did not diminish fans’ enthusiasm at all.”

Time Warner CFO John Martin said volume of ad dollars in the current quarter has a been “a little bit light” -- so “there are some mixed signals there.” He cited the packaged-goods category as having slowed.

HBO Go, the authentication service for the pay-cable network, continued to gain traction, and Bewkes said it is in eight countries. At Time Inc., ad dollars in the fourth quarter were flat, while overall revenues dropped 1% to $1 billion.

Company-wide, the fourth quarter saw a 5% revenue bump at Time Warner to $8.2 billion. Profits were up slightly by $4 million to $773 million.