Sweet Legacy
After years of offering Internet services that were often at cross-purposes, Time Warner Cable and AOL will join forces to market and develop a new Road Runner + AOL broadband venture. The venture kicks off this week in Time Warner’s Raleigh, NC, system and eventually spreads to the rest of the MSO’s service areas. Road Runner subs will be invited to upgrade to the new service-which has premium AOL content and other features. Pricing will vary according to connectivity speed. The service will be marketed to other cable ops. AOL will manage ad sales and search inventory for the new offering, plus develop e-commerce options. All this comes months after the departure of AOL For Broadband chief Lou Borelli, who’d been pushing for high-speed cable affiliations. — Simon Applebaum