New York - Media giant Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) said on Wednesday that it will officially separate its dial-up Internet access business from its content and advertising business beginning next year. "We've made the key decisions that will enable us to run AOL's access and audience businesses separately beginning in 2009," said CEO Jeff Bewkes. The move would make it easier for the company to sell one or both of the businesses, following recent discussions with suitors including Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) and EarthLink (NASD: ELNK).

The news comes as AOL's revenue declined 16% to $1.1 billion in the second quarter, with a 2% increase in ad revenue failing to offset the loss of 2.8 million dial-up subscribers from the previous year.

AOL, which has chosen to deemphasize its Internet access business in favor of online content and advertising, currently has about 8.1 million U.S. subscribers.

"As we continue to reshape Time Warner, we'll increasingly focus on our goal to create and manage high-quality branded content," said Bewkes.

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