If Microsoft or Google strike a deal to buy AOL, I am doubtful that it would be for the entire entity. More likely any deal will be a partnership with Time Warner retaining a significant piece of AOL.

As one piece of evidence: today AOL has announced that it will launch a free online television network in January called In2TV. By the end of 2006, the service will offer over 3,400 hours of archive programmes from 100 series of Warner Brothers productions in its first year.

"This builds on what has been our programming focus for many years and aligns well with our move to the open Web," says Kevin Conroy, AOL Media Networks executive VP. "Our focus is on building a media business and driving advertising revenue."

Now I ask you: would Time Warner (who owns both AOL and Warner Brothers) allow In2TV to air their WB content if they were not going to share on the revenue upside with a future partner?

The move fully embraces an advertising model. Conroy says the model likely will show four spots for each half-hour of content, with single 15- or 30-second spots. This strategy allows Time Warner to bring more content online faster. That, in turn, means more eyeballs, he says, to drive ad revenues and additional content.

"There are reasons that there were decades of ad-supported TV before there was the first pay channel," Conroy says. "We firmly believe the ad model is the way to build a market and business."

In2TV's six original channels are

* LOL TV (comedies such as Welcome Back Kotter, Perfect Strangers and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper),
* Dramarama (Falcon Crest, Sisters and Eight Is Enough)
* Toontopia (animated shows like Beetlejuice and Pinky and the Brain)
* Heroes and Horrors (Wonder Woman, Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman and Babylon 5)
* Rush (action shows such as La Femme Nikita, Kung Fu and The Fugitive)
* Vintage (Growing Pains, F-Troop and Maverick)

Two channels will be added next year for reality shows and cancelled series, the latter perhaps becoming a clearinghouse for unseen programs.

For now, In2TV will have its strongest appeal with nostalgia buffs who miss those shows they can no longer find on TV. Noting that those shows, not surprisingly, were easiest to get the rights to, Frankel adds that newer programs will soon be in the fold.

"In six or eight months, we'll have shows that are playing on popular cable networks or have recently come off a network," he says. "We'll be getting deeper into the mix."