Time Warner said AOL revenue overall fell 23%, to $867m in Q1, due to a 27% decline in subscription revenue and a 20% fall in advertising revenue. It did not break out its actual ad revenue.
The company said the decline in subscription revenue reflected its strategy to offer its e-mail and certain other products free of charge.
The company did not break out the ad revenue for individual countries, nor for individual business units such as Platform-A, which houses its various ad-related businesses including Tacoda.
AOL's pre-tax profits declined 37% to $255m in Q1 2009, primarily because of lower revenue, offset partly by lower traffic acquisition costs, lower personnel and overhead costs, as well as reduced marketing, network and other expenses.
Speculation has mounted in recent months that Time Warner wants to offload or spin-off AOL as a separately listed entity. And today (29 April), Time Warner chairman and chief executive Jeff Bewkes said the company was "working to determine the right ownership structure for AOL".
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