The Ticker (p.m. edition): Turner, Olympics, Cafferty…

> Despite net income falling 26% in 2Q, Time Warner’s Turner division, which includes CNN & Headline News, delivered an 11% increase in ad sales. TVWeek reports Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says the unit outperformed expectations “given the economic conditions.”

> Joe Scarborough isn’t afraid to poke a little fun at NBC’s $1 billion investment. Newsbusters watched as Scarborough joked, “Are the tanks still there?” and coughed repeatedly. “We’re going to get a phone call,” said co-host Mika Brzezinski. And because the show was only 90-minutes today (Olympic soccer took over at 7:30amET), Scarborough and Brzezinski had extra time for lunch.

> In today’s New York Observer cover story on the games, Cox Newspapers Asia bureau chief Craig Simons talks about how Jack Cafferty’s “goons and thugs” comment still reverberates. A Beijing cabbie asked Simons if he worked for CNN. “Mr. Simons said he did not. The cabbie declared that he would have refused to carry him if he had.”