WHEN: TODAY, TUESDAY, JUNE 9
WHERE: CNBC'S "SQUAWK BOX"
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of AOL Chairman & CEO Tim Armstrong on CNBC's "Squawk Box" today. Following are links to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000387000&play=1 and
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000386975&play=1.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
ARMSTRONG ON THE VERIZON DEAL
I think Verizon is a company that is one of the largest companies in the world and one of the most successful. I think when they were looking forward they were deciding how to actually play the future of media and AOL over the last 5 or 6 years we've really invested at the front end of mobile and video and content brands. I think from the Verizon standpoint that's a great company that makes more money the more things flow through their pipes the more data we're going to offer a new layer of service above the Verizon pipes which will be all about media content, advertising and I think if you look at those two marketplaces those are video and advertising are going to be 80 billion dollar markets over the next 4 or 5 years growing at 30 to 40 percent.
ARMSTRONG ON AD PLATFORMS
We've been successful in ad platforms partially because we've invested in content. We have about 396 million consumers every month on AOL's properties. We were the first to launch an online cable system with Huffpost Live. We have AOL Build which is live so we're actually a much larger investor in content than people realize and we use that content plus other people's content to drive the ad systems.
ARMSTRONG ON THE HUFFINGTON POST
We have looked at deals at the Huffington Post in the past about selling part of it or financing part of it in general, but that was about growth, the larger puzzle piece is Huffington Post inside of our larger asset set is super valuable. The stock deal was at 50. I think it's bumped around a little bit price-wise, but I wouldn't read too much into that because we're really focused on getting the transaction closed with Verizon.
ARMSTRONG ON BUNDLING
I think the reality is consumers want what they want. They'll pay a lot for entertainment and I think when you unbundle things it's highly likely that if you're a sports fan or if you're a CNBC fan you might pay more than you're paying in your current bundle.
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