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 Under the watchful of the Time Warner COO Jeff Bewkes, the sleepy web giant transformed itself from an outdated dial up business to an open and free ad supported web portal.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.

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]

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]

New York Times' Ron Stodghill says Dick Parsons is being forced to stand down and more in this morning's not so worthy media news

The head of Merrill Lynch got canned and Dick Parsons is about to hand over control of Time Warner to Jeff Bewkes. Does this spell doom for black chief execs in America? [NYT] Ted Turner knows when to back down from a fight he can't win. The mouth of the south made nice with the world's biggest media mogul, Rupert Murdoch over lunch signaling the end of many years of back and forth insults. Good for you Teddy. [DHD] NBC Universal shutters yet another online failure. First it was NBCi, then NBBC , now its Dotcomedy.com which was basically like Viacom's thedailyshow.com. Dotcomedy.com ran clips of SNL but never gained any real traction. Could it be because SNL lost traction about 5 years ago? [MW] While getting roasted by colleagues, former bosses and friends, former NBCer turned AOLer Randy Falco said that AOL is worth fighting for. Um.....OK [B&C]

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]

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]

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].

Did anyone really want to work for Jeff Zucker anyway?

This week NBC Universal has seen two top execs exit the building to go be their own bosses and call their own shots, or something like that. First former NBC Universal TV Group President Randy Falco finally saw the writing on the wall that could not be erased and headed over to Time Warner to go after AOL CEO Jon Miller's job and got it. Now David Zaslav,president of NBC Universal cable and new-media distribution got the CEO bug and landed at Discovery Communications where he too will be his own man and call his own shots, or something like that. We won't even beat around the Bush on this one. These men just refuse to work for Jeff Zucker who is set to take over GE's NBC Universal. We don't expect the exits to stop either. Sources tell us that Randy Falco will be joined at AOL by some familiar faces real soon. NBC Exec Takes Discovery President-CEO Post[Adage]

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." Mr. Bewkes said: "I look forward to working closely with Randy and the talented team at AOL as they increasingly capitalize on the rapid growth of online advertising. With his proven success in operations, business development, video programming and advertising-supported businesses, Randy brings the right tools to run AOL at this important time in its history. I also want to express my gratitude to Jon Miller for his many contributions to the company, including the strategy that we put together earlier this year, which is already bearing fruit." Mr. Falco said: "I'm truly excited about joining the superb teams at AOL and Time Warner. AOL is clearly headed in the right direction, and I have full faith in its future as a leader among Time Warner businesses. My challenge will be to execute on the strategy that I believe will make AOL once again the leader of the online world. I see a tremendous opportunity for meaningful growth at AOL and will work hard with the fine people at AOL to make sure the company lives up to its full potential." Mr. Miller said: "Rarely do you come into an organization with as many challenges as AOL faced when I arrived and then have the great satisfaction of putting it on sound footing. I've had that opportunity at AOL over the past four years, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. I deeply appreciate the unwavering effort and support from the wonderful people at AOL, and I wish them, Randy and Time Warner all the best in the future." Mr. Falco's BackgroundMr. Falco is the President and COO of the NBC Universal Television Group, responsible for the group's commercial and operational functions, including network and cable sales, affiliate relations, cable distribution, business development, information technology, network and studio operations, worldwide television distribution, and Telemundo. Mr. Falco also was a General Electric Corporate Officer. Before becoming President and COO in 2005, Mr. Falco served as President of the NBC Universal Television Network Group and as Group President of the NBC Television Network. Previously, he was President of the NBC Television Network and COO, Olympics, for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He has won a total of six Emmy Awards for these broadcasts. In addition, as President of NBC's Broadcast and Network Operations division, Mr. Falco was in charge of the facilities and operations of the NBC Television Network worldwide. He was responsible for overseeing the design and creation of the "Today" show's "Window on the World" studio, MSNBC's state-of-the-art broadcast facilities in Secaucus, N.J., and the digital conversion of the NBC Television Network. He also served as Vice President of Finance and Administration, NBC Sports, and held several managerial positions in Finance, Technical Operations, and Corporate Strategic Planning after joining NBC in September 1975. Mr. Falco is a graduate of Iona College, where he received his bachelor's of business administration in finance in 1975 and his master's of business administration, also in finance, in 1979. He received an honorary doctorate from Iona College in 2001. He's a board member of the Ronald McDonald House and lives in Pound Ridge, New York, with his wife, Susan, and their three children.

Falco Watch: Will he ever get to run his own company?

With rumored high profile defections, we have to start asking the questions and speculate and all that other good sh*t that comes with writing about media and its overpaid big shots. So today we ask and wonder and speculate about the whole Randy Falco thingy. If Mr. Falco does leave from under the Zucker regime to join AOL, what exactly will he be doing there. He is said to have always wanted to call his own shots, but unless current AOL boss Jon Miller is packing up his office, Mr. Falco won't really be calling his own shots. Also, if when Jeff Zucker takes control of NBC Universal wouldn't he have pulled Mr. Falco right up to still be his number two as Prexy and COO of the mother ship? We made a call into NBCU HQ in an effort to reach Randy (not that we thought we actually could have spoken to him) but of course, not to our surprise, we got stuck with an assistant who said that she had no idea what we were talking about. And you know what we kinda believe her because usually executive assistants are so clueless as to what's going on around them outside of answering phones, getting coffee etc. Anyway if Randy Falco does step off to go join AOL, we're thinking that Jeff Zucker wouldn't bother replacing him at all. Also we think Falco may be joining AOL to be in waiting for when the Bewkes era begins, possibly being pulled in to help run the world's biggest media company, and even then he would still be under the balls of someone else. OK so we're looking too far ahead but we call it as we see it. Falco News Coverage [Yahoo! News]

Falco finally sees the writing on the wall

In a move that has us saying "What the hell took so long" NBC Universal Television Group President and COO Randy Falco is said to be leaving to Join Time Warner's AOL Unit. This no doubt has to do with the fact that not only is Jeff Zucker referred to as NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright's number two in the press but he is clearly who the suits at parent GE want running the show when Bob says goodbye. The move is expected to be announced this week. It is unclear whether Falco, 52, would hold the title of president or chief executive at AOL, and what position Jonathan Miller, AOL's chairman and chief executive, would maintain after the move, the paper reported. Was this a Jeff Bewkes recruit to replace Jon Miller? The Bewkes doctrine is full play. NBC executive is expected to join AOL: NYTimes [Reuters]

The Bob and Jeff show aint what it seems, or so some say

So is NBC Universal honcho Bob Wright setting up his alleged heir apparent to stand in front of the fan in case any shit hits it? Well the New York Post (you know how credible they are) is claiming that sources within the company have said that the two men are in total lockstep. Could it be because Bob Wright believes that Zucker is getting too close to the big suits at GE, campaigning to make sure that he is indeed the next leader of NBC Universal? However, a mouthpiece for the company had the following standard corporate response: "Believe me, there's no love lost between those two," said one source close to NBC Universal. Well one person we know for a fact would love for this to be true is Zucker number two Randy Falco who we wouldn't trust to open a pack of gum. WRIGHT'S NBC PLOT THICKENS [NYP]

Photoshopping BW: We are so going to get in trouble for doing it better. But seriously this is the Businessweek cover story we would love to see

When Jeff Zucker was appointed to the newly created roll of CEO of NBC Universal Television many in the industry were shocked. Yeah Jeff was the boy wonder at NBC, making shows like "Today" major hits in its time slot. But Jeff started to lose his mojo after he got pulled into the corporate ranks taking the roll as president of television. We all thought that the boy wonder lost the wonder and was on his way out by way of an order from way up at the top of all tops, Jeff Immelt, CEO of NBC Universal parent General Electric. An order did come from the top of all tops, but it was to approve the upping of the boy wonder who lost his wonder. Now many who worked alongside Jeff Zucker is now reporting to him and he sits in good with Immelt. Is this NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright's way of indirectly naming his successor? Is this GE's way of picking Wright's replacement for him? During a conference call a few days after the announcement, Bob Wright allegedly joked around calling Jeff his heir apparent. Other execs like Zucker number two Randy Falco President & COO of the television group chuckled nervously. But like us, the industry is convinced that Zucker is indeed Bob Wright's heir apparent. However we would love to hear from Jeff himself, how he pulled it off, who's ego he stroked or who he sold his soul to. This would make for a great Businessweek cover story. Earlier: [We had to do it: We present to you the Businessweek cover that will be]

Who will it be?

For some time now NBC Universal Chairman and CEO Bob Wright has been on a secret watch list. What watch list you ask? A little something we are going to call the “Stepping down list”. Bob Wright has been the man behind NBC for many years since the Jack Welch era at GE, its parent company. When NBC shifted from just a broadcast network to a full blown media powerhouse, Bob Wright was there enjoying his blast off into the big boys media club. But through those latter years of the Jack Welch Era at GE and now the Jeffrey Immelt era, askers have been asking, when will Bob Wright retire and if and when he does, who will take his chair? Over the years however that has been made clearer and clearer, well we think so. Jeff Zucker must be the fastest rising executive in broadcast history. He started out bugging Katie Couric and Matt Lauer as producer of the Today show. From there he was named President of Entertainment for NBC. More recently however Mr. Zucker was named CEO of NBC’s television group which many say has put an end to the question as to who will replace Bob Wright? We guess the recipe for indirectly being tapped as the heir apparent at a major media company is to fuck up. Because when we all thought Jeff Zucker was out the door due to NBC’s slip behind its rivals, he was promoted. But hey we could be in for a surprise as well because there are other suitable candidates who can do Bob Wright’s job. Rand Falco who reports to Jeff Zucker as COO of NBC TV Group has the balls and experience for the job. Late lat year on a conference call Bob Wright said that Jeff Zucker will take over at some point but in a joking way. Randy Falco was the one heard laughing the loudest as if to say “Yeah Right”. But Bob Wright may have been trying to tell us something that day. GE CEO Jeff Immelt is said to be a big fan of Jeff Zucker’s. So if the big man over the big man is a fan of yours then you basically got the job….we think. Ok so we covered both Jeff Zucker and his number two Randy Falco. So lets say both Jeff and Randy leave the company in some out of this world scenario, or they both die from terminal disappointment because NBC fell to the last spot on the ratings radar. Who else is in the line of succession? Well the looooooooooooooong shot is Lynn Calpeter Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, NBC Universal. But we know nothing about this woman except that she reports directly to Bob Wright and she is a veteran GE exec. CONTINUED....