European jobs 'safe' in wake of AOL Time Warner deal

NEWS Having finally met with FCC approval, monster media company AOL Time Warner is facing speculation in the press that it is cutting up to 1,000 jobs at CNN, one of Time Warner's key assets. It is likely that the online division of CNN will bear the brunt of the losses, in line with similar moves by other media companies this year. Tim Grimsditch, analyst at Forrester Research, argued that there are too many people employed in this specific part of the media sector. He said: "CNN has a huge operation in the US which is significantly larger than that of the competition and we believe that there will be some shedding from the online group." CNN refused to comment on the stories today. The view from analysts indicates that the Europe operations will escape the job losses experienced by their American counterparts. Grimsditch emphasised that the biggest impact will be in the US because the merger is a deal driven by US synergies. Olivier Beauvillain, analyst at Jupiter Research, agreed that job cuts are not on the cards in Europe. He told silicon.com: "AOL is in an investment phase in the European market and I don't see them laying off staff." In Spain and Italy, AOL has no presence at all and across the rest of the continent it faces stiff competition from the likes of T-Online, Wanadoo and Tiscali. FCC approval of the deal was dependent on three conditions which must now be satisfied. AOL must open access to its high-speed cable network. It must open up its Instant Messaging service. Third, AT&T must sell off its stake in the new company. Interactive TV developments are excluded but the FCC did announce a wide-ranging investigation into this new market.