On his ascent to the No. 3 position in the world's largest media company, Robert W. Pittman earned the nickname "Bob Pitchman," the best marketer of his time.
On Thursday, Pittman stepped down as chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner in a shake-up at the world's largest media company, which has seen its stock dragged down by its flagging America Online division.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The announcement came after weeks of speculation that Pittman had been unhappy with pressures from senior management. Pittman had been dispatched in April to rescue the AOL division, which has had a steep drop in advertising revenue.
AOL Time Warner stock had fallen Thursday after The Washington Post published an article detailing what it called unconventional deals to boost revenue before and after the merger that created the company.
Pittman, a veteran of the AOL side of the company, had been widely associated with lofty promises for growth that were made to investors shortly after the merger of AOL and Time Warner was announced in 2000.
The company never fulfilled those promises, and angered investors by sticking to those targets long after most observers stopped believing them.
As part of the shake-up, two top executives from the Time Warner side of the company were elevated: HBO cable television chairman Jeff Bewkes will head up the company's entertainment and networks businesses, and Time Inc chairman Don Logan will lead a media and communications group.
Bewkes will lead an "entertainment and networks" group that will comprise HBO, New Line Cinema, Turner Networks -- which includes CNN -- the WB network, and the Warner Bros movie studios and Warner Music.
Logan, head of the company's highly successful magazine division, will lead a new group of media and communications businesses including America Online, Time Inc and Time Warner Cable.
Both executives will report directly to Dick Parsons, the chief executive.
Bewkes and Logan said they intend to preserve the autonomy of the company's operating divisions and sounded a more low-key tone on promising the kinds of cross-divisional synergies than Pittman had.
"What we would bring to the table would be a greater sense of urgency in looking for cross-divisional opportunities," Logan said.
The announcement of the shake-up came after the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where AOL Time Warner had fallen US$0.66, or 5 percent, to US$12.45 on concerns about its accounting methods. The stock has fallen about 60 percent this year, from around US$32.
The shake-up came the day of a regularly scheduled meeting of AOL Time Warner's board of directors and the same.
Thursday's Washington Post article said AOL used a number of unusual techniques to boost its revenue between July 2000 and March 2002. The story, which was based on a lengthy review of confidential documents from AOL, reported that the company converted legal disputes into advertising deals, shifted revenue from one division to another, and sold ads on behalf of eBay and booked them as its own revenue.
AOL spokesman John Buckley said that all the transactions discussed in the article were appropriate and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that AOL's auditors, Ernst & Young, had signed off on all the transactions.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS