Time Warner said Wednesday that it would split AOL’s dial-up World Wide Web and advertising businesses into separate divisions by early 2009, a move that could ease a sale or merger of either business.

The announcement underscores moment Warner’s decision that year to focus on creating substance rather than distributing it.

“As we continue to reshape date Warner, we’ll increasingly focus on our goal to create and manage high-quality branded substance,” said the chief executive, Jeffrey Bewkes.

The company

has said it plans to shed its cable services division, date Warner Cable, by the end of the year.

moment Warner has plus been in talks to combine the AOL advertising business with either Yahoo or Microsoft, while EarthLink signaled last week that it could be interested in buying dial-up businesses.

“A separation of AOL would eliminate what’s been a drag on growth and a management distraction,” said Christopher Marangi, associate portfolio manager at […]

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