Time Warner CEO Talks To Fox Business (TWX)

Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes spoke to FOX Business Network's (FBN) Neil Cavuto about the battle between television and digital realms, the firing of Rick Sanchez, the future of television and recent changes at CNN. He told FBN that Parker-Spitzer's debut “leaves room for improvement,” that Jon Klein's firing was part of a “structural change” that “needed” to happen and Klein was “not surprised” to be let go. Highlights of the interview can be found below courtesy of Fox Business Network. On whether he would hire Rick Sanchez back: “You know, I wish Rick well. He did a lot of good work on CNN. Anything is possible. I wish him well. He is a talented guy, he is going to have a lot of interest in different channels. Who knows? Maybe someday the right place for him would be one of ours. I don't think we should be doing that now and I am sure Rick would like to try something new.” On whether he was involved in Rick Sanchez's firing: “No, I was not involved in that decision. I knew about it.” On whether he agreed: “I did at the time.” On whether he recommended Jon Klein's firing: “Jon did a very good job. We got to the point where we needed to make a change and that's why we made the structural change. I think Jon, who understood that was probably somewhere around here we were going to get to that point. I don't think it surprised him. I don't think we ought to go into the details of what contracts were long or short. All of the moves and discussions on management at CNN Jon has been a part of throughout so I think that none of this really came as a surprise to him.” On CNN's Parker-Spitzer debut: “It started out in a way that leaves room for improvement. They are very intelligent and knowledgeable people. They come from different sides of the political view. Give it a little while and see how it develops. What we have is a supportive directive that says get into the news, get into the issues, in an intelligent way. Don't get into a shout fest.” On CNN hiring Piers Morgan: “He is going to be very interesting. He's got a lot of skill in taking things you don't know about and get at the essence of them. He can do fairly serious and complicated issues and make it accessible to people.” On combining CBS and CNN: “They keep thinking about it. The other networks come to use over a long period of time. All of them. They look into the question on whether they should figure out a way to get news coverage from CNN.” On whether Time Warner has spoken to Disney about this: “Over the period of years we have had discussions with them. I think it's something that basically is going to be a perennial question until broadcast networks figure out what is the best way to handle their news.” On CBS News President Les Moonves' remarks that Katie Couric's contract will be the last of its kind: “I'm not going to specify what anybody's contract should be. I think there is plenty of health in TV news, including at CNN…to pay for not only the best coverage in terms of news gathering but also some of the biggest talents in news. The economics of TV news – if you just look at CNN – hugely profitable, very strong growth in earnings at CNN. I think at FOX also.” On whether he is worried about the economy's impact on his business: “Not really. I feel very confident about the business. The short term business of Time Warner, the current sales, whether it's movies, cable channels, magazines, is quite strong. The ad business is very strong in TV, picking up in magazines. Time Magazine is picking up.” On the rumor that Newsweek is merging with the Daily Beast: “I'm glad we're not them. We're doing much better at Time, Inc. There is a much better answer than that.” On the future of television in the digital world: “There is a lot happening on TV, a lot of action of TV these days. I am sure everybody that is watching this has five or ten networks that are really important to them that they check in with everyday. We're at the dawn of a big change when all that programming goes on the Internet.” “Those networks are going to be available on demand on your TV set. That's going to be available any time of day you want. It is on HBO but most networks haven't done it. A bigger story is taking the TV networks and TV shows and putting it in your living room TV.” On who will win the battle between digital content and television: “The networks are going to win it.” On the “On demand” function that will become available to all networks: “This is not going to cost you anything.”