Just when it seems that magazines have finalized a divorce, the media industry negotiates a major reconciliation. The divorce has been occurring for years, as major multi-media companies sought to divest their print holdings including portfolios of Time Warner, Hearst, TV Guide, and others because they believed there was little strategic value in linking print and TV brands.

The trend can be traced back to the CBS sale of CBS Magazines and follows a progression through Walt Disney Company's recent divestiture of ABC Publishing, the final element of which, Los Angeles Magazine, was recently sold.

But just when the separation appears to have become permanent, the TV industry suddenly is jumping back into print with a vengeance and also exploring other internet options.

First, BBC Worldwide Americas, the U.S. arm of the U.K.’s British Broadcasting Corp., unveiled a joint-venture with media investment specialist Veronis Suhler to launch a new U.S. publishing company. The new company has an initial goal of amassing $100 million in equity. Veronis is throwing the clout of its $1 billion private equity media buying fund, VS&A Communications Partners III, behind the new company.

Primedia is undergoing a transformation into a multi-media company leveraging its print titles into merchandising opportunities under the leadership of former TV executive, Tom Rogers.

The company plans to electronically distribute magazines, e-books, transcripts and other print-related matter, including articles from thousands of magazines.

Meanwhile, an even more symbolic publishing venture was announced on the heels of the BBC/Veronis deal. TV and publishing executive, Steve Brill, recently formed a publishing alliance with CBS, NBC and Primedia.Brill already has enlisted the support of some powerful print executives, such as magazine guru Clay Felker, who will provide a directory of the hot magazines to read.

A few weeks ago, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, AOL and Time Warner unveiled plans to launch AOL TV, which will let subscribers surf the web, check their email, or chat while watching TV programs - all on the same screen. A challenger to Microsoft's WebTV, the new services will give advertisers yet another media option and the potential is huge - up to $20 billion in annual revenue, according to Forrester Research.

AOL and Time Warner's joint entry into the interactive TV arena validates the medium as the next big advertising development and the impact of internet related TV advertising is already taking some strange turns.

According to an industry report, WUHF-TV, a FOX affiliate in Rochester, New York, recently ran small text ads across the bottom of the screen during some of its programs between commercial breaks. According to the report, the station was persuaded to give the ads a trial run by a client looking for a novel way to advertise a high-speed internet service. This trial run of “TV banners” was a clear case of online media lending a hand to offline media in creating a brand new advertising venue.