Time Warner Inc. has named former NBC Universal TV COO Randy Falco as the new chairman and CEO of its AOL online unit replacing Jonathan F. Miller, reported The Associated Press.
Falco's move marks a growing trend of traditional media executives making the move to digital. Terry Semel, the current CEO of Yahoo, spent 24 years at Warner Bros.; Lloyd Braun, who runs Yahoo's media group, was an executive at ABC before he made the jump to digital media.
At NBC, Falco recently oversaw the company's drive to sell more ads on its various new-media platforms, including NBC.com and iVillage, the Wall Street Journal reported. (subscription required)
"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," says Randy Falco.
Last month, NBC announced that it is restructuring the company and turning its focus on digital with an initiative named NBCU 2.0.
Fortune magazine also reported last month that Yahoo was in speculative talks to purchase AOL, but the talks have stalled.
Falco faces several challenges, namely competition from other portals Google and Yahoo. In September AOL announced plans to revamp its business to focus more on ads than generating revenue from subscriptions, the company's former business model.
"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," says Time Warner Inc.'s Chairman and CEO Dick Parson.