Former AOL boss Jon Miller best if used after March 2009

- SDH When Jon Miller was booted from AOL, he basically went underground barely heard from and/or seen. Now things are looking like they are about to be shaken up at Yahoo and he surfaces as a potential board member. But too bad for him his former employer Time Warner still has the hold on him until 2009. Miller is being put up to join the board of troubled web giant Yahoo! which many think is a prelude for an eventual Miller administration at the company. Poor Miller thought his former bosses at Time Warner would have been OK with him joining Yahoo! by waiving the non-compete clause. But he was dealt a blow late last week when he was told no way. We bet if Dick Parsons was still running the show at Time Warner Jon Miller would have been able to hop on board the Yahoo train. That Jeff Bewkes is a by the books kinda guy isn’t he, or shall we say by the contract kinda guy. Well Lucky for Jon, 2009 is right around the corner.

Randy Falco’s job and the future of AOL hang in the balance as Wall Street and Investors play Jeff Bewkes’s favorite game of wait and see

By SDH AOL has gone through many changes since its name was ripped from the corporate logo and Steve Case called it quits. Jon Miller stuck around as CEO until he was booted for the TV exec Randy Falco and his crazy eyed number two Ron Grant. Now the company leaving Virginia behind for the concrete jungle that is New York City in an effort to stand strong in the ad game, Investors, Wall Street and we’re sure Time Warner’s board is waiting to see what the outcome will be. Under the watchful of the Time Warner COO Jeff Bewkes, the sleepy web giant transformed itself from an outdated dial up business to an open and free ad supported web portal. Both AOL CEO Randy Falco and President Ron Grant have their hands full for 2008. The two must carefully integrate the recently purchased Bebo.com and show investors that their plan is working. If it all this goes you can bet, Wall Street and Investors will be calling for heads to roll and/or a sale.

Ted Turner still hurting over CNN, Doesn't want to be chummy with Rupert Murdoch, and thinks news networks are hiring too many chickens

By SDH Ted Turner the one time media mogul, who suffers from a rare case of foot in mouth disease, sat with PBS's Charlie Rose for a one on one where he spoke about his current rolls as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation and Restaurateur. Ted says he would love to see all nuclear weapons wiped off the face of the earth and more steps taken to produce cleaner energy. But what caught our ears the most was when Ted spoke about how angry he was when the AOL Time Warner deal went to hell. He also shared that Michael Milken, Liberty Media boss John Malone and two others he refused to name told him to support the deal thinking it would have been a huge success. But as it turns out they were wrong. Ted also spoke about his long time feud with News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch which was not too long ago put to rest over lunch at Ted Turner's restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill. But even though they buried the hatchet, he doesn't want to be too chummy with Rupert and is still wondering if he should invite him to his 70th birthday bash. Asked about what he thinks about CNN today and other news networks, Turner went into his usual shotgun mouth mode and said, CNN is too giddy and needs to be more serious because he believes news should be serious especially in these times. He is also not pleased with the networks letting quality journalists go in favor of eye candy, which he called chickens. When asked about the very opinionated Lou Dobbs, Turner basically said Dobb’s needs to shut up and just report the news. Turner says that Dobb’s has become too opinionated. He said if he was still running things at CNN he would put Dobbs in check, which he claimed to have done in the past when he was running things at CNN. Ted talked about how he almost bought CBS, ABC and NBC at some point but each of them slipped through his fingers. Ted sounds like he misses the media business and feels like he could do more. When asked by Rose if he would team up with Rupert Murdoch on a project, he didn’t brush it off. So is Ted Turner done with the media business? At almost 70 and all those major brands under his belt, it’s easy to say he is done. But with all his money and connections, we don’t see any reason to right him off just yet.

Did Yahoo! middle it's logo to shake off AOL.com's copycatting ways?

By SDH When Yahoo! launched their revised home page, not long after, AOL launched a new home page reflecting their new all is welcome model. But something was familiar about it. It looked like the exact layout Yahoo! rolled out with, but with different colors and of course the AOL logo. Well it looks like Yahoo! grew tired of AOL stealing their look and decided to make a little bitty change by moving their logo to the middle of the home page and moving the search bar underneath it. Way to go Yahoo! that’s how you shake off fucking copycats.

When fantasies border on stupidity

By SDH We’ve heard crazy ideas/fantasies before like when it was suggested that Time Warner buy Starbucks, that one, though clearly just someone talking out of their rear was just extreme and made absolutely no sense no matter how anyone wants to look at it. Now comes another crazy idea/fantasy though not as extreme as the Time Warner Starbucks suggestion, this one is also someone talking out of their rear. After browsing over at “All Things Digital” we came across a post from Kara Swisher who begs that we indulge her, in her no sense fantasy/idea that instead of Microsoft buying Yahoo! They should buy AOL and the giant media company attached to it, Time Warner. AOL by the way is attached to Time Warner, and why say Microsoft buying Time Warner would be a bargain compared to Yahoo! While in the same breath mentioning that the current price tag for Time Warner is $51.5 billion but it would balloon to about $87 billion due to debt? Double the price of what Microsoft is offering for Yahoo! We know it’s just a fantasy but we’re talking reality here. If Microsoft were to even mention that they are kicking the tires on the overweight Time Warner, their stock would go into a free fall. Microsoft knows nothing about traditional media which is what makes up the majority of Time Warner. And bottom line, it would be AOL Time Warner 2.0. The only thing that would fit with Microsoft is AOL, so why not just grab AOL if Jeff Bewkes decided to sell. No need to buy a bunch of assets you’re going to have to unload just to gain control of one. There is no value in Harry Potter, HBO or any other Time Warner brands, shows, networks for Microsoft. If Former Time Warner CEO Geri Levine didn’t get caught up in the hype that was AOL, Time Warner would probably be in good shape right now. But it is still suffering from the after effects of that merger. Kara Swisher asks why doesn’t Microsoft buy Time Warner. Well the answer to that is simple. They have no interest in dumping a load of cash on a debt laced company in a business they know nothing about, that is still trying to find their way after being knocked on their ass. Oh yeah and Steve Ballmer kinda likes his job and net worth. We think the same goes for Bill Gates, at least on the net worth part.

Time Warner's Bewkes speaking a little clearer now

BY SDH During his first earnings call as Time Warner CEO, Jeff Bewkes didn't meet expectations as far as what many on the call was hoping the lankly banker turned media heavy would reveal about his plans. When the call was done, all we knew was that he was indeed the new CEO, AOL will look to sell off their sleepy dial up business, even though we can't imagine who would want to buy it, and he was leaving Time Inc as is. But now as he warms to the new gig, Bewkes is spitting out more as he starts to see the big picture more clearly. During the recent Bear Stearns media conference, Bewkes teased the audience with his AOL hopes and plans, only saying that he was open to slapping the troubled internet unit with another company, a clear hint to Yahoo! that they can come knocking. But Bewkes's other revelations only further boosted what others have been saying for some time now like spinning off Cable. However Bewkes continues in his mistake of not trimming up Time Inc. Jeff Bewkes must change his position on the magazine publisher or it will get worst.

The hunt for ad dollars: AOL will launch 12 new websites to seduce advertisers and play catch up

"We want to be sure we are appealing to as many consumers as we can'' -Bill Wilson, executive vice president of programming BY SDH On the web, it’s all about the advertising dollars and media companies will stop at nothing get their chunk of it. Some companies in the past have went as far as plastering their websites with a whole new skin reflecting the advertiser's brand. Well AOL isn't going that far but they are planning on launching 12 new websites in an effort to attract more advertisers. It’s another one of those things where big media companies toss a bunch of cards in the air and hope they all land face up. AOL, an online pioneer created in 1985, is trying to catch up with newer competitors by offering free e-mail and Web security, a plan pushed by Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes since 2006. An increase in visitors and advertising hasn't made up for declines at the unit's Internet dial-up business, leading to a 32 percent drop in AOL's fourth-quarter revenue. AOL to Start 12 New Web Sites to Attract Advertisers [Bloomberg]

Selling AOL is probably the last thing on Jeff Bewkes's mind

-SDH Since the Microsoft bid for Yahoo! speculations started to come from all angles regarding Time Warner's AOL business. Some say AOL could be doomed, some say there is no one to buy AOL now and some call it, Jeff Bewkes's first test. We call it all bullshit. Who says Jeff Bewkes was even thinking abut selling off AOL. Personally, we think he is going to keep AOL under Time Warner and continue to build it into an ad powerhouse while focusing more on what to do with old content businesses like Time Inc, and fully spinning off Time Warner cable. The only change we would like to see at AOL is Randy Falco gone and replaced by a real internet guy. AOL is just part of a bigger test Jeff Bewkes faces. He already passed the first test and that was to show the board he is the man to takeover the company. Related: AOL buys online affiliate marketing network buy.at

Next week is Super Tuesday earnings report week

-SDH Next week's entertainment line up is looking to be an exciting one. On Monday, News Corp will report its 2nd Quarter Fiscal 2008 results. On this call analysts will be waiting to hear about any plans in the works for the recently acquired Dow Jones as well why they decided to not free up the Wall Street Journal website, DUH! On Tuesday it will be Disney's turn to spill the beans about their First Quarter 2008 Financials. Disney is expected to announce earnings of 52 cents a share on $10 billion in revenue, not too bad Bobby! Can we get some acquisition news soon though? Saving the best for last, Jeff Bewkes will make his debut on Time Warner's earnings call as CEO on Wednesday. We have no doubts analysts are itching for this one. Some of the questions Bewkes and his team are expected to face will include, what are his plans for the oversized company, AOL, Time Inc etc... Oh yeah they are expected to report earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $12.6 billion. But we all know analysts will be more concerned about Bewkes's plans for the structure of the company. Media conglomerates seen posting higher profits [MarketWatch]

It took Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! not Jeff Bewkes's appointment as CEO to move Time Warner's stock

-SDH Microsoft's monstrous bid for web giant Yahoo! is sending shock waves through the media industry and people like Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes probably couldn't be happier. Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! is making investors take another look at Time Warner's AOL unit. Following news of the Microsoft bid, Time Warner's stock shot up a little over 9% as investors slapped a higher value on AOL. But unless Time Warner is selling AOL then this valuation is just some kind of mental comfort for investors, no? ``All of a sudden, it helps people sharpen their pencils and do a similar valuation on the AOL business,'' said David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. in New York, which owns about 3 million Time Warner shares among $1.6 billion in assets. ``It's worth 60 percent more today than yesterday.'' Time Warner Gains on AOL Valuation After Microsoft's Yahoo Bid [Bloomberg]

Looking back at some of our look backs

We don't like to stir up bad memories...OK who are we kidding? We live for this shit! Anyway, remember this Businessweek cover story featuring one of the main architects of the worst merger in the history of American business? Well many say this was the cover that led to the near death of Time Warner. Ok we said it! We did a look back on the good old times of Jerry Levin when he was on top of the media world as CEO of pre-merger Time Warner. What is now called old media was all the rage back then, cable, print, you name it. Time Warner was king. Until.....well you know! Some of you may not remember but there was a time not too long ago when Comcast CEO Brian Roberts thought he was actually going to buy Disney. He believed so much that he even did a "Bob Pittman" by doing a premature Businessweek cover. People will do anything to sell an idea won't they? Seriously, where would Disney be today if this deal did happen?

A look back: The cover story that set in motion events leading to the near death of Time Warner

-SHOMARI HINES From time to time we like to go back, waaay back, to revisit some of the biggest Businessweek cover stories. We've went back to revisit the Businessweek cover story with then Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin who was on top of the world at the time. We also went back to revisit the cover story on how Comcast wanted to buy Disney, a deal that would’ve probably gone sour after the ink dried. Today we continue this practice. This time we look back at that Businessweek cover story that featured one of the main architects of the AOL Time Warner merger, Robert Pittman who was criticized for hawking all the attention after the merger announcement as if he was the man in charge. The cover set off a slew of rumors of infighting due to the fact that Then AOL Time Warner CEO Geri Levin felt that he should have been on the cover but was being overstepped by Pittman. It was also said that the Pittman cover was orchestrated by the AOL side to remind the Time Warner side, who was buying who. We can understand why Levin felt that way because the cover headline which read "Show Time for AOL Time Warner. Bob Pittman's job is to implement the biggest merger in U.S. history. That's a tall order" gave the impression that Pittman was the man running the show, when in fact, Pittman shared the Chief Operating Officer title with Dick Parsons and was part of a bigger team working to get the merger running smoothly, which we all know never happened. Was Pittman directing Businessweek on the tone of the article, or was Businessweek overzealous? Who knows? But in the end, Pittman was canned, and what followed will go down in history. Show Time for AOL Time Warner [Businessweek]

Out with the AOL in with the NEW

-SDH Years after the worst merger in history, AOL still carries stains of that fateful day and is still trying to wash them away. The latest attempt by CEO Randy Falco and the rest of his AOLers is to silently kill the AOL name all together, or so some are suggesting. The company has been slowly wiping away the AOL name from some of the company’s services and products in an attempt to attract and not deter. But will the new scheme work for Falco and CO? And at some point will Falco himself be wiped away in favor of a deep rooted digital media maverick? "Whither the AOL brand?" has been a growing question since the company announced over a year ago that it wanted to morph from a Web portal for the masses into a sophisticated company that sells advertising across sites. The company isn't ready to talk about whether it would re-brand the flagship site, AOL.com, or the holding company, AOL LLC. A spokeswoman didn't return messages seeking comment. AOL has operated properties under different names, like MapQuest, Engadget and TMZ, for a while, but industry observers and press reports suggest it is happening a lot more lately. ANY OTHER LABEL [NYP]

Media News aggregated

-MEDIA WIRE DAILY Jim Nail, an exec with Cymphony, the online advertising analytics firm, predicts that web properties like Youtube, Myspace and Facebook won't become the ABC, NBC and CBS of the 21st century. These fuckers really have time on their hands don't they? [CNNMoney] Is this a Murdoch call? DowJones is thinking about selling off their Ottaway group of eight daily and 15 weekly community newspapers and related media franchises. They seem to be lightening the load before Rupe takes control at the end of the year. [Marketwatch] Mad Money-ist Jim Cramer shares with us why media stocks are not the way to go right now. One word sums it all up GOOGLE [BloggingStocks] We don't think Jeff Bewkes will sell AOL but just in case he is planning to do so when he takes office, but here is another but familiar reason he should just spin it off [TWBS] Is Jeff Bewkes Ghost writing for the Carson Daly hosted "Last Call with Carson Daly" while writers are still on strike? [Reuters] Conde Nast and other's we can't bother to mention because there names are too long will to produce MOVIES ROCK(TM) a Celebration of Music in Film, but the names scheduled to appear aren't that exciting. [PRNW]

It came to us last night: Dick Parsons' tell all book

-BY SDH We are so hoping for a book from TimeWarner Chairman Dick Parsons. Not only would he be paid big bucks for a book, it would be a huge hit we think. The Time Warner AOL merger is dubbed the worst merger in the history of corporate America. Wouldn't America want to know what the fuck was going on leading up to when then TimeWarner CEO Gerald Levine got on all fours for AOL's Steve Case? There has never really been any real behind the curtains details disclosed about how the deal really happened and what the environment was like after the TimeWarner board realized what they did. Wouldn't we all like to know what it was like for him to take over when the company was on life support, and how he 'Tamed" it? It wouldn’t be a problem for Dick to land a book deal, he knows a lot of people who own book publishing companies. Anyway right before we called it a day yesterday it hit us over the head, and to the right is the result of our vision of what a Dick Parsons book and title should look like. Nothing too fancy just standard. We would so pre-order this book. Come on Dick, get to it.

AOLer randy falco buys one more company to make him feel like AOL is competing strongly with google

AOL, the embattled Internet unit of TimeWarner is about to drop $340 million to buy yet another online ad firm to beef up it's competitive ability with Google. AOL CEO Randy Falco will land a company that makes money off of the Google ad model and gain 100 employees that he will eventually fire in the new year to cover the $340 million price tag. Falco is really serious about building AOL into an advertising mall or something like that. What will happen if and when advertising isn't the Internet cash whore it is today? The deal, which adds 100 employees, marks the last big acquisition AOL plans as part of a restructuring to transform itself into a one-stop online advertising shop, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco told Reuters in an interview. "I expect it to begin to add to growth in 2008," he said, referring to AOL's online advertising growth, which is a big concern among investors. Ad growth slipped to 16 percent in the second quarter and 13 percent in the third quarter, from 40 percent levels earlier. Wonder if Falco will last the full run of the Bewkes Administration? -YOSH AOL to buy Quigo as last big advertising deal [Reuters]

Morning Wire: Someone told MTV and AOL that you care that much about music lyrics, and more in this morning's not so worthy media news

MTV and AOL wants to help you learn your favorite song by providing a new song lyric search service. where do they come up with this shit? [NYP] CNN in second life [NYP] Advertisers will do anything for attention, they are now turning their scopes on people with physical or mental disability via a website called disaboom.com. Soon they will find a way to communicate with your dog. [NYT] Tribune Co and Gannett Co Inc team up all in the name of revenue [Reuters] Martha Stewart living, continues to take Yahoo's left overs [Reuters]

2,000 to perish at AOL so Randy Falco can spend their salaries else where

Adding to the already heavy unemployment rate, Time Warner's AOL will tell 2,000 employees, "Thank you, but fuck you". You know how this goes, when a company wants to focus on high growth areas and they have to find the money to do so. Its not like they couldn't take from Randy Falco's salary and his crazy eyed number two Ronny boy. Cost savings will allow AOL to invest in high-growth areas, Chief Executive Officer Randy Falco said today in a memo confirmed by Bentley. Last month, AOL announced plans to move its corporate headquarters to New York from Dulles, Virginia and set up a network to help advertisers buy online ads. Second-quarter sales at AOL plunged 38 percent to $1.3 billion as the unit lost 1.1 million paying subscribers, New York-based Time Warner said in August. Time Warner's AOL Internet Division to Cut 2,000 Jobs [Bloomberg]

Afternoon Wire: But is AOL's customer service still incompetent

-NEIL YOSHIDA AOL may be moving in a more healthy direction as far as their new strategy. But has their customer service improved since the clip below? Do customer service reps still find it difficult to understand a simple request? For former AOL customer Vincent Ferrari he basically had to talk the rep on the other end of the phone line into canceling his account.

At NBC we would have killed to have AOL: Randy Falco

-LENN HINDSMANN AOL Chief Randy Falco is so confident about the future of the internet giant, he says his bosses at Time Warner would be nuts to dump the company. Falco has settled into his new gig as spokesperson in chief, and according to many, has the company moving in the right direction. But anyone who looks close enough can see Time Warner CEO in waiting Jeff Bewkes's finger prints all over the new strategy "As traditional media struggles with the shift to digital, I think Time Warner is starting to realize that with AOL they have help right there in the field," he said. "I've reached out to them to identify ways we can help and give them an edge in the fight." FALCO'S FETE [NYP]

AOL announces that it will announce web deals today

-LENN HINDSMANN AOL Chief Randy Falco and company are said to be thisclose to announcing five web deals that will hopefully put a smile on the suits at Time Warner. Falco took over to lead the company's efforts in moving to a strictly ad driven operation, away from its outdated subscription Internet access business, and so far according to Falco, it seems to be working. "This is really AOL's coming out party as an advertising-supported broadband online service," AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco said in an interview on Monday. "More people are coming to the free AOL service, more than offsetting the losses on the dial-up service," said Falco. "It's a growth engine." Many are still wondering if Falco is the fix it man brought in to oversee AOL's transition from paid to free before Time Warner sells it off for a sweet sum? AOL to announce five Web broadband deals [Reuters]

Dick leaving all options on the table regarding life after Time Warner

-SHOMARI HINES Time Warner big bear Dick Parsons refuses to give direct answers and/or rule anything out when it comes to what he plans to do after his contract is up in 2008. at a Baruch College forum yesterday, Dick managed to skip around the question when it was asked. But with all the talk surrounding his contract being up in 2008, is it not possible for him to renew if the board wants him to stay? No seriously we're really asking. Well maybe he wants to be done with the media industry anyway. Who can blame the guy, after struggling to bring back the company after its nuclear like merger with AOL and dealing with thugs like Carl Icahn. Anyway if Dick does end up running for NYC mayor its a decision he will probably make on his own while in bed with Laura. “It's not smart to let people push you [into a decision]," he said, explaining why he planned to take time to "cool out" once he leaves the media giant. "It's much better to go off somewhere and clear your mind and figure out what to do next." Time Warner CEO on mayoral run [New York Business]

Time Warner may be slowly following some of Carl Icahn's suggestions

After all the public back and forth with corporate thug Carl Icahn, the suits at Time Warner maybe acting on some of his suggestions after all. Their is chatter that the media giant will either spin off a piece of it's AOL unit or merge it with another Internet giant. However Time Warner mouthpiece Ed Adler tried his best to put a cap on the truth, sticking to the Time Warner corporate script for dealing with when the truth gets out: "AOL is not for sale nor do we plan to spin any part of it off," Time Warner spokesman Ed Adler said on Friday. "The company has a great new strategy and it's working well." Ed, did you ever stop and think that maybe the info wasn't filtered down to you yet? Because analyst seem to think different and we hate to say it but sometimes they're right. "We believe that the prospects for an outright sale of AOL this year are high as the Internet company tries to go global," UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff wrote in an e-mail to Reuters. "The best way to do this is through a partnership or merger." Time Warner could spin AOL stake this year: UBS [Reuters]

Morning Wire: Greedy NY Timers | Viacom | AOL's Bid, and more in this morning's worthy media news

-Shomari Hines New York Times CEO Janet Robinson and others still collected big pay checks even with no profits at the company. Corporate greed at its best. [NYP] AOL withdraws bid for Swedish online ad firm Tradedoubler causing a drop on that company's stock price. Wonder what AOL CEO Randy Falco has his eyes on now? [Reuters] If you're a parent and a group of people have to talk you out of taking your kids to "R" rated movies, chances are you suck as a parent [Reuters] ESPN has hired former New York Times sports editor Le Anne Schreiber as its ombudsman. OK so what the hell is a ombudsman? Oh wait that's like a mediator/investigator type right? [Reuters] Viacom has the support of it's bigger media rival Time Warner with its jihad against Youtube [Bloomberg] Steve Case fresh off the launch of his health website, is now planning to launch an online payment system called GratisCard. [Businessweek].

Former executives of the AOL-Time Warner disaster seek normalcy in health related businesses

Isn't it ironic that the two men who orchestrated the worst merger in history are both in health related businesses? Former Time Warner CEO Gerald Levine went underground the day he left the TW offices for the last time, only to pop up as a partner in some kind of health spa in California where he settled. Now his former co-pilot Steve Case finally got his health website off the ground. We guess after all the pain their dumb merger caused people they felt obligated to to get into businesses where people in pain, mentally and/or physically can seek help. In the case of Steve Case, his new venture called RevolutionHealth.com is a kinda like a knock off of WebMD but you have to pay more. Anyway In Steve's own words, he tells us why he went the health route. After leaving AOL, I thought long and hard about what I should do next. I felt that health care was in dire need of transformative change, and decided to build another company that could be a change agent, with the goal of shifting power into the hands of people themselves. I see this as a business opportunity, to be sure, and we’re aiming to build Revolution Health into a major company. But I also see this as an opportunity to do some good, by tackling a health care system that is a mess, in the way I know best: by building a company that can change the world. The Doctor's Office Gets Crowded on the Web [WSJ] RevolutionHealth.com

Exactly who is AOL's new number two with the crazy eyes

Since taking over AOL, former NBC exec Randy Falco has wasted no time in cleaning out the old and bringing in his new. Some AOL execs who worked under former CEO Jon Miller have opted to leave on their own, smartly seeing the writing on the wall. Falco seems to be in the final stages of Falconizing the place with key appointments. However the new structure points all the business heads, not to Falco but to his short crazy eyed number two Ron Grant. Who is this well dressed crazy eyed little man running the show under Falco? We had to ask because the picture of him and Randy Falco in this morning's New York Times got our attention because of those eyes. Funny enough Grant isn't a former NBC-er. According to his bio on the AOL corporate page, he spent quite some time between AOL and parent Tim Warner. Before he was named to his current position with AOL in 2006, Grant was Senior Vice President, Operations, for Time Warner, AOL's parent company. In that position, he worked closely with Time Warner's President and Chief Operating Officer in areas including strategy, digital initiatives, and operational efficiencies for Time Warner divisions and played an important role in the development of the business plan launched by AOL in 2006. Before moving to Time Warner, Grant was Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and Development for AOL and managed a team responsible for business development, negotiating key alliances, and operational investments. He joined AOL in 1997. Ron Grant Bio [AOL LLC]

And In Closing: CNN, Big Radio, Small Fry

CNN Aiding terrorists? A Midwest hotel chain has pulled CNN from the TV channel lineup in its guest rooms, saying the cable network was aiding terrorism with the broadcast of a video showing Iraqi snipers shooting at U.S. troops. Wow and here we were all this time thinking the folks at CNN were just doing their job. Will Clear Channel lose it's mojo? Clear Channel is the biggest radio broadcaster in the nation. But when it goes private the company plans to sell off over 400 of it's 1,150 stations. Does this mean they lose their status having the biggest dick in radio broadcasting? It said the station sales are not contingent on closing its deal to be taken private in a $18.7 billion buyout by the Mays family and equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners LLC. The scramble for hundreds of stations could bulk up smaller players and bring in new ones, leaving an industry of many players ready to compete for advertising as well as listeners. More heads may roll out at AOL With a new leader moving into the top job at AOL, we won't be shocked if more departures are announced at NBC Universal where AOL's new CEO Randy Falco is leaving. However the waves are already hitting shore at AOL. Blogger boss turned AOL exec Jason Calacanis has reportedly left or will leave because his mentor Jon Miller got the boot, or something like that.

Jon Miller found out that he was being replaced the usual way, via a reporter

Talk about back stabbing. According to a source in today's NY Times, former AOL CEO Jon Miller didn't know that his bosses were talking with Randy Falco to replace him. However being the business diplomat that he is, Jon Miller bowed out on a good note. Mr. Falco's hiring came as a surprise to Mr. Miller and other executives at AOL. Mr. Miller had just reorganized the Time Warner unit after its transition to a new strategy of offering the AOL service free to people with high-speed Internet connections. Mr. Miller had periodically been seeking a strong operating executive to help him run AOL and, at Mr. Bewkes’s suggestion, had recently had a drink with Mr. Falco. He did not know until a reporter called AOL on Tuesday that Mr. Falco was in talks to replace him, according to two people who had spoken with Mr. Miller. Mean while, Randy Falco is only bring his operational strengths to AOL, leading us to believe that he will only be signing the checks, not necessarily coming up with the new and exciting things companies like AOL need to stat ahead of the game, or at least in it. NBC Executive Is Expected to Bring Operational Strengths to AOL [NYT]

Fresh News: Its official Randy Falco is the new man at AOL

We weren't expecting this announcement anytime soon especially with published reports saying that the announcement would come next week. Anyway it looks like Randy Falco will officially get to run his own company after all. It looks like talks between Falco and Time Warner top brass went so good both parties wanted to share the good news today. Randy Falco, President and COO of the NBC Universal Television Group, has been named Chairman and CEO of AOL LLC, it was announced today by Time Warner Inc.'s Chairman and CEO Dick Parsons and President and COO Jeff Bewkes. The rest of the official press release from Time Warner after the click Continued>> Randy Falco Named Chairman and CEO of AOL LLCNovember 15, 2006 NEW YORK – Randy Falco, President and COO of the NBC Universal Television Group, has been named Chairman and CEO of AOL LLC, it was announced today by Time Warner Inc.'s Chairman and CEO Dick Parsons and President and COO Jeff Bewkes. In making the announcement, Mr. Parsons said: "Jeff Bewkes and I are very pleased that a top operating executive of Randy Falco's expertise and experience will be leading AOL into its next stage of development. A key to Time Warner's digital future, AOL is showing early success in transitioning to an advertising-focused business model, and Randy is a first-rate choice to ensure AOL realizes its promise. We thank Jon Miller for his four years of far-sighted leadership during a difficult time at AOL. We wish him well as he moves into the next phase of his career."