• by April 14, 2004

Call me psychic.

Yesterday, the Minute shared a sliver of a conversation with a source.

Said source hinted that the Securities & Exchange Commission probe into the methods by which Time Warner's America Online unit booked ad revenue would be settled quickly, that a spinoff of the company's Time Warner Cable unit would come first, followed by a spinoff of AOL.

Yesterday, a published report by Reuters quoted Georgetown University law professor and former SEC staffer Donald Langvoort saying: "Ninety-five percent of all SEC cases are settled."

Before anything in the Time Warner business can move, a settlement must be reached. I'm thinking a settlement might be reached before the company's April 28 earnings announcement.

"The SEC doesn't have the resources to take these actions to court, and one would assume that Time Warner wants to get this behind them quickly," Langvoort told Reuters.

I can almost smell the ink on the legal documents.

An aside: We also hear that AOL Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis is all but out; CEO Jon Miller isn't far behind. Miller, who joined AOL during what has arguably been the toughest period in its brief history, marks two years helming the division in August.

On another note: JD Events, the company that produces the Ad:Tech trade shows, is floating a full-bodied program this year for its San Francisco event May 24-26.

Heavy-hitting brand marketers speaking at the event include Allison Johnson, senior vice president, global brand and communications at Hewlett-Packard Co.; Peter Weedfald, senior vice president, strategic marketing and new media at Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Patrick Vogt, senior vice president and senior general manager at Sony Electronics.

Apart from the three keynoters, Ad:Tech is offering up 40 breakout sessions organized into 5 tracks: Media Matters; Actionable Marketing; Data Feed; Business Decisions; and Future Think. Two general sessions will round out the program, delving into the current state and near future of advertising and marketing.

The brand marketing case studies ought to be of high interest to anyone in online media. Ad:Tech attendees can expect to hear from brands including Coca-Cola, Oracle, Dell Inc., and eBay, and J.P. Morgan. For listings of exhibitors, speakers, events and all conference offerings, click here.