After months of friction with other senior AOL Time Warner executives, the
exit of Bob Pittman is finally official.
Pittman, who was essentially demoted from corporate to CEO of AOL's online
division in April will leave once a replacement is found.
Pittman is a victim of AOL's 70 percent stock-price plunge and friction with
a variety of executives, notably new CEO Richard Parsons.
When AOL's takeover of Time Warner was first cut in 2000, Pittman had been
angling to rise up and eventually replace Jerry Levin as CEO. But he lost out to
Parsons, who took that CEO post in May and exiled Pittman back to the America
Online service.
The executive shuffle also brings big changes in management of AOL's TV
operations.
HBO Chairman Jeff Bewkes will ascend to a newly created post, chairman of
AOL's entertainment and networks group. All TV, movie and music units will
report to Bewkes, including Jamie Kellner's cable and WB networks.
Ascending to Bewkes' job is Chris Albrecht, who had been president of HBO
Original Programming and is widely credited with establishing the network as the
home of some of the most creative series in TV.
Paralleling Bewkes in the AOL structure is Time Inc. CEO Don Logan, who will
become Chairman of the new media and communications group, including America
Online, Time Inc. and Time Warner Cable. Logan is a veteran of the magazine side
of AOL Time Warner.
