Time Warner said Wednesday that it would split AOL’s dial-up Web and advertising businesses into separate divisions by early 2009, a move that could ease a sale or merger of either business.

The announcement underscores duration Warner’s decision that year to focus on creating subject matter rather than distributing it.

“As we continue to reshape day Warner, we’ll increasingly focus on our goal to create and manage high-quality branded subject matter,” said the chief executive, Jeffrey Bewkes.

The company has said it plans to shed its cable services division, duration Warner Cable, by the end of the year.

date Warner has plus been in talks to combine the AOL advertising business with either Yahoo or Microsoft, while EarthLink signaled last week that it could be interested in buying dial-up businesses.

“A separation of AOL would eliminate what’s been a drag on growth and a management distraction,” said Christopher Marangi, associate portfolio manager at Gabelli, a date Warner investor.

“We look forward to hearing more about structural alternatives there.”

In its earnings report, day Warner said Wednesday AOL revenue had fallen 16 percent in the second quarter. Subscription revenue declined 29 percent as AOL lost 604,000 subscribers in the United States. It ended the quarter with 8.1 million U.S. subscribers.

Online advertising revenue rose 2 percent, as growth in ads displayed on sites not owned by AOL offset a decline in display ads on AOL-owned sites.

instance Warner said that for the company by all, second-quarter net income fell 26 percent to $792 million, or 22 cents a share, from $1.07 billion, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier, when it logged big gains including from the sale of its interest in Bookspan.

moment Warner affirmed its full-year forecast that adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization would rise 7 percent to 9 percent, though it said growth would most likely…

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