In the latest horror story passing for a quarterly report, Time Warner reported a net loss of $16 billion for its fourth quarter compared with a profit of $1 billion during the comparable quarter a year ago. The company's film division, however, showed a 6-percent gain, largely due to reduced output, even though such releases as Gran Torino, Four Christmases and Yes Man took in about what the studio's year-earlier films did. However, DVD sales fell significantly, even those for The Dark Knight , the top theatrical film of the year. With many consumers already boasting dozens of films in their libraries, many traditional buyers are cutting back DVD purchases -- a situation that affects all studios, including Warner Bros. Cable networks stood in the one bright spot in the company's arena, showing an unexpected 9-percent spike in revenue, despite a big hit to its net because of such outside factors as the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy and the cost of selling its Turner Broadcasting-owned Atlanta sports teams. Time Warner shares closed Wednesday at $9.42, down from its 52-week high of $16.90 set last September.

05/02/2009