NEW YORK (CBS.MW) — AOL Time Warner shares slipped 8 percent Friday amid a report that the diversified media giant has made a proposal to buy AT&T’s troubled broadband unit.

A spokesman for AT&T and a spokeswoman for AOL declined comment.

The shares (AOL: news, chart, profile) lost $2.81 to $32.28. AT&T (T: news, chart, profile) fell 66 cents to $17.70.

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told CNNfn the proposal had been made, and that Liberty would consider joining the bid if such a scenario develops.

The broadband unit has been a loss leader for AT&T ever since the company purchased Malone’s TCI cable operations in 1998. Comcast (CMCSK: news, chart, profile) made a bid for the systems earlier this year, but AT&T turned that proposal down.

Several other companies are considered to be potential suitors for the cable unit, among them Walt Disney Co. (DIS: news, chart, profile) and Cox Communications (COX.: news, chart, profile).

Disney shares closed 38 cents lower at $24.11, while Cox shed 93 cents at $39.10. David B. Wilkerson is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco.

-Ian.

——– http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&d ist=yhoo&guid=%7B3790CBA5%2D7F2C%2D4DF3%2D8F3A%2DA8B0770E1F14%7D

AOL Time Warner has big plans for 7.0 By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 6:22 PM ET Sept. 6, 2001

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) — AOL Time Warner has big plans for the unveiling of the 7.0 service of America Online, the chief executive of the flagship unit said here Thursday at an industry conference.

Barry Schuler, the CEO of America Online, said 7.0 fits neatly into the parent’s (AOL: news, chart, profile) goal of continuing to expand America Online with valuable services for its members.

Currently the unit has 30 million members, 1 million of whom signed up in the last quarter alone, Schuler said, underscoring the division’s impressive growth.

The 7.0 service will have an accent on local programming, such as giving movie listings and restaurant guides. It will replace the existing 6.0 program.

AOL Time Warner’s focus is to make America Online “personal and relevant” for its customers, Schuler said.

Wall Street analysts have fretted that America Online may have a tough time maintaining its eye-popping growth rate. As Schuler conceded, it took America Online 10 years to gain its first 1 million customers.

AOL Time Warner’s shares fell $1.66 to $35.09, or 4.5 percent, during the session.

Schuler said the company’s watchword was to pay attention to what customers want from it. “They’re driving this (growth),” he said.

Schuler might have unwittingly given a scoop during his talk by narrowing the time frame for 7.0. He said Thursday morning at the Salomon Smith Barney Tech2001 industry conference that the service would be distributed next month, but the company has been saying that it’ll be released during the fall season.

AOL Time Warner is also focusing on boosting sales abroad. It now has about 6 million customers outside the U.S., Schuler said. He added that Europe is a big part of the international gameplan.

In related company news, AOL Time Warner is cutting staff and firing the chief operating officer of its German unit as a part of a restructuring.

During a brisk, 40-minute speech to hundreds of industry analysts and investors, Schuler sprinkled his observations about the changing Internet industry with assurances that the AOL Time Warner was working out well and that the company would be the driving force in the digital technology.

Among the innovations that AOL Time Warner could contribute are digital music services, home networking, video on demand, interactive television, telephony applications and America Online’s signature “You’ve Got Pictures 2” service, he said.

Schuler said that “everything in the home” would eventually be connected by a broadband application. “It’s going to be part of the home – like electricity, you just have it.”

The uses of the television set might change the most, he suggested.

“TV is going to go through its biggest change since its invention,” Schuler said.

“Broadband is coming – it’s still coming,” he said. “It’s going to take time but it’s integral” to the changes in technology.

AOL Time Warner now has about 135 million subscription customers in total.

-Ian.

Ian Andrew Bell wrote:>
> Hey, guess what? Ed’s on holiday!
>
> I suspended him from posting. Someone remind me to turn it back on on Aug
> 23rd.
>
> -Ian.
>
> Ed Hargrave wrote:
> >
> > I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> > If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> > at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Ed Hargrave
> >
> > >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:27 >>>
> >
> > I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> > If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> > at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Ed Hargrave
> >
> > >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:25 >>>
> >
> > I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> > If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> > at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Ed Hargrave
> >
> > >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:24 >>>
> >
> > I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> > If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> > at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Ed Hargrave
> >
> > >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:22 >>>
> >
> > I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> > If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> > at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Ed Hargrave
> >
> > >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:18 >>>
> >
> > http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990813/news/current/irid.htx
> > http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,40492,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh.ni
> > http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,40407,00.html?st.ne.ni.rel
> >
> > -Ian.
> >
> > –=–
> >
> > Chapter 11 filed against Iridium
> > Interest payment of $90 million due Sunday
> >
> > By Debra McGarry, CBS MarketWatch
> > Last Update: 4:42 PM ET Aug 13, 1999
> > Movers & Shakers
> >
> > WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS.MW) — A group of investors filed an involuntary
> > Chapter 11 bankruptcy
> > petition against financially troubled Iridium World Communications on
> > Friday, two days after the
> > company defaulted on over $1.5 billion in loans.
> >
> > “It became clear to the various parties at interest that a Chapter 11 filing
> > was inevitable and, unless
> > drastic action was taken, the company’s assets could be at serious risk,”
> > said Talton Embry of
> > Magten Asset Management Corporation, a member of the beleaguered company’s
> > steering
> > committee, in a statement.
> >
> > Iridium (IRID: news, msgs) has 20 days to respond to the involuntary
> > petition and can continue to
> > operate its business in the ordinary course.
> >
> > On Wednesday, Iridium said it defaulted on more than $1.5 billion in loans
> > after failing to meet
> > customer and revenue growth targets required on an $800 million loan, the
> > third extension of which
> > expired Wednesday.
> >
> > The expiration triggered the default on that loan and another for $750
> > million. Iridium did not seek
> > another extension, spokeswoman Michelle Lyle told Reuters.
> >
> > The default also delivered a blow to Motorola (MOT: news, msgs), Iridium’s
> > 18 percent owner, and its
> > loan guarantor. Motorola shares gained 5 1/4 to close at 93 amid an overall
> > market rally.
> >
> > Motorola issued a statement on Thursday in which it reiterated its support
> > for Iridium, its operations
> > and gateways and all current and future subscribers. However, Iridium’s
> > largest shareholder said its
> > “willingness to participate in providing additional financial support
> > depended on a substantial degree
> > of participation in a financial restructuring by all other relevant parties
> > with a significant financial
> > interest.”
> >
> > Motorola is the guarantor of the $750 million loan in default. The other
> > $800 million loan is secured by
> > Chase Manhattan Bank. According to Motorola, creditors have been working on
> > plans to restructure
> > Iridium’s debt.
> >
> > The default has hit additional investors, namely Japan’s Nippon Iridium, the
> > second largest
> > shareholder after Motorola. Japan’s Kyocera (KYO: news, msgs) and
> > long-distance phone service
> > provider DDI Corp. are the major shareholders of Nippon Iridium. See full
> > story.
> >
> > “It’s in every investor’s interest to keep them (Iridium) out of bankruptcy,
> > because bankruptcy shrinks
> > the size of the pie available to Motorola, banks, and bondholders,” analyst
> > Armand Mussey of Bank
> > of America Securities told CBS.Marketwatch.com on Wednesday.
> >
> > Once Iridium missed its first customer subscription projections, it had less
> > revenue available for
> > advertising, which resulted in the company missing its revenue and
> > subscription projections even
> > further. “Then they have so little money left over that the banks start
> > coming after them and
> > meanwhile all the interest on their loans keeps accumulating,” Mussey said.
> >
> > On Aug. 15, Iridium must meet a $90 million interest payment on its $1.45
> > billion in bonds. The
> > payment was originally due July 15, but Iridium exercised a 30-day grace
> > period.
> >
> > Trading in shares of the struggling satellite communications company were
> > halted amid a 1 3/16 slide
> > to 3 1/16 on volume of of almost 5 million shares.
> >
> >
> >

I suspended him from posting. Someone remind me to turn it back on on Aug 23rd.

-Ian.

Ed Hargrave wrote:>
> I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ed Hargrave
>
> >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:27 >>>
>
> I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ed Hargrave
>
> >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:25 >>>
>
> I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ed Hargrave
>
> >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:24 >>>
>
> I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ed Hargrave
>
> >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:22 >>>
>
> I will be out of the office until August 23, 1999.
> If this matter is urgent. please contact Mike Antoniak
> at 604.473.9883 or mikea [at] microserve [dot] ca.
>
> Best Regards,
> Ed Hargrave
>
> >>> “foib [at] egroups [dot] com” 08/13/99 14:18 >>>
>
> http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990813/news/current/irid.htx
> http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,40492,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh.ni
> http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,40407,00.html?st.ne.ni.rel
>
> -Ian.
>
> –=–
>
> Chapter 11 filed against Iridium
> Interest payment of $90 million due Sunday
>
> By Debra McGarry, CBS MarketWatch
> Last Update: 4:42 PM ET Aug 13, 1999
> Movers & Shakers
>
> WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS.MW) — A group of investors filed an involuntary
> Chapter 11 bankruptcy
> petition against financially troubled Iridium World Communications on
> Friday, two days after the
> company defaulted on over $1.5 billion in loans.
>
> “It became clear to the various parties at interest that a Chapter 11 filing
> was inevitable and, unless
> drastic action was taken, the company’s assets could be at serious risk,”
> said Talton Embry of
> Magten Asset Management Corporation, a member of the beleaguered company’s
> steering
> committee, in a statement.
>
> Iridium (IRID: news, msgs) has 20 days to respond to the involuntary
> petition and can continue to
> operate its business in the ordinary course.
>
> On Wednesday, Iridium said it defaulted on more than $1.5 billion in loans
> after failing to meet
> customer and revenue growth targets required on an $800 million loan, the
> third extension of which
> expired Wednesday.
>
> The expiration triggered the default on that loan and another for $750
> million. Iridium did not seek
> another extension, spokeswoman Michelle Lyle told Reuters.
>
> The default also delivered a blow to Motorola (MOT: news, msgs), Iridium’s
> 18 percent owner, and its
> loan guarantor. Motorola shares gained 5 1/4 to close at 93 amid an overall
> market rally.
>
> Motorola issued a statement on Thursday in which it reiterated its support
> for Iridium, its operations
> and gateways and all current and future subscribers. However, Iridium’s
> largest shareholder said its
> “willingness to participate in providing additional financial support
> depended on a substantial degree
> of participation in a financial restructuring by all other relevant parties
> with a significant financial
> interest.”
>
> Motorola is the guarantor of the $750 million loan in default. The other
> $800 million loan is secured by
> Chase Manhattan Bank. According to Motorola, creditors have been working on
> plans to restructure
> Iridium’s debt.
>
> The default has hit additional investors, namely Japan’s Nippon Iridium, the
> second largest
> shareholder after Motorola. Japan’s Kyocera (KYO: news, msgs) and
> long-distance phone service
> provider DDI Corp. are the major shareholders of Nippon Iridium. See full
> story.
>
> “It’s in every investor’s interest to keep them (Iridium) out of bankruptcy,
> because bankruptcy shrinks
> the size of the pie available to Motorola, banks, and bondholders,” analyst
> Armand Mussey of Bank
> of America Securities told CBS.Marketwatch.com on Wednesday.
>
> Once Iridium missed its first customer subscription projections, it had less
> revenue available for
> advertising, which resulted in the company missing its revenue and
> subscription projections even
> further. “Then they have so little money left over that the banks start
> coming after them and
> meanwhile all the interest on their loans keeps accumulating,” Mussey said.
>
> On Aug. 15, Iridium must meet a $90 million interest payment on its $1.45
> billion in bonds. The
> payment was originally due July 15, but Iridium exercised a 30-day grace
> period.
>
> Trading in shares of the struggling satellite communications company were
> halted amid a 1 3/16 slide
> to 3 1/16 on volume of of almost 5 million shares.
>
>
>

-Ian.

–=–

Chapter 11 filed against Iridium Interest payment of $90 million due Sunday

By Debra McGarry, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 4:42 PM ET Aug 13, 1999 Movers & Shakers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS.MW) — A group of investors filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition against financially troubled Iridium World Communications on Friday, two days after the company defaulted on over $1.5 billion in loans.

“It became clear to the various parties at interest that a Chapter 11 filing was inevitable and, unless drastic action was taken, the company’s assets could be at serious risk,” said Talton Embry of Magten Asset Management Corporation, a member of the beleaguered company’s steering committee, in a statement.

Iridium (IRID: news, msgs) has 20 days to respond to the involuntary petition and can continue to operate its business in the ordinary course.

On Wednesday, Iridium said it defaulted on more than $1.5 billion in loans after failing to meet customer and revenue growth targets required on an $800 million loan, the third extension of which expired Wednesday.

The expiration triggered the default on that loan and another for $750 million. Iridium did not seek another extension, spokeswoman Michelle Lyle told Reuters.

The default also delivered a blow to Motorola (MOT: news, msgs), Iridium’s 18 percent owner, and its loan guarantor. Motorola shares gained 5 1/4 to close at 93 amid an overall market rally.

Motorola issued a statement on Thursday in which it reiterated its support for Iridium, its operations and gateways and all current and future subscribers. However, Iridium’s largest shareholder said its “willingness to participate in providing additional financial support depended on a substantial degree of participation in a financial restructuring by all other relevant parties with a significant financial interest.”

Motorola is the guarantor of the $750 million loan in default. The other $800 million loan is secured by Chase Manhattan Bank. According to Motorola, creditors have been working on plans to restructure Iridium’s debt.

The default has hit additional investors, namely Japan’s Nippon Iridium, the second largest shareholder after Motorola. Japan’s Kyocera (KYO: news, msgs) and long-distance phone service provider DDI Corp. are the major shareholders of Nippon Iridium. See full story.

“It’s in every investor’s interest to keep them (Iridium) out of bankruptcy, because bankruptcy shrinks the size of the pie available to Motorola, banks, and bondholders,” analyst Armand Mussey of Bank of America Securities told CBS.Marketwatch.com on Wednesday.

Once Iridium missed its first customer subscription projections, it had less revenue available for advertising, which resulted in the company missing its revenue and subscription projections even further. “Then they have so little money left over that the banks start coming after them and meanwhile all the interest on their loans keeps accumulating,” Mussey said.

On Aug. 15, Iridium must meet a $90 million interest payment on its $1.45 billion in bonds. The payment was originally due July 15, but Iridium exercised a 30-day grace period.

Trading in shares of the struggling satellite communications company were halted amid a 1 3/16 slide to 3 1/16 on volume of of almost 5 million shares.