The move, which seems designed primarily to appease the investment community by maximizing the value of the corporation's TV and film divisions, came after talks to sell only part of its print publications to Meredith ended without a deal.

"After a thorough review of options, we believe that a separation will better position both Time Warner and Time Inc," Time Warner Chairman/CEO Jeff Bewkes said in a statement. "A complete spin-off of Time Inc. provides strategic clarity for Time Warner Inc., enabling us to focus entirely on our television networks and film and TV production businesses, and improves our growth profile.

"Time Inc. will also benefit from the flexibility and focus of being a stand-alone public company and will now be able to attract a more natural stockholder base. As we saw with the prior spin-offs of Time Warner Cable and AOL, we expect the separation will create additional value for our stockholders."

Time Warner added that after the spin-off, which is expected to be completed sometime this calendar year, Time Inc. will continue its mission as a multiplatform publishing/branded content company, that currently reaches nearly half of U.S. adults each month and millions of consumers globally."

Time Warner had been looking to sell most of its magazines to Meredith, the Des Moines, Iowa-based publisher of Ladies Home Journal, but had been hoping that deal would enable them to keep a few of its most high-profile and profitable titles such as TIME, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.

"At Time Warner's initiation, we discussed combining our National Media Group with certain Time Inc. brands to create a new publicly traded company," Meredith Chairman/CEO Stephen Lacy said in a statement.

"There are natural synergies between our two portfolios; however, we respect Time Warner's decision and certainly remain open to continuing a dialogue on how our companies might work together on future opportunities."