Ted Leonsis, vice chairman emeritus of AOL (NYSE: TWX), isn’t saying which way he hopes the latest Time Warner-AOL talks with Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and/or Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) wind up but he’s emphatic about wanting a conclusion. During an interview on a completely different subject this afternoon, Leonsis told me: “I’m hopeful that there is a fast conclusion to any and all talks because the talks are all anyone is talking about. The industry has kind of come to a standstill and they’re such important companies. Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL are the major engines for customers, consumers, for advertisers. They’re the companies that write the checks. Google and advertising.com are the biggest check writers to Web 2.0 companies and those four companies are the biggest acquirers of companies. ... I’m just hopeful that this dust settles quickly because the dance has been going on for a long time and it’s time for everyone to get back to work.”

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