Equity Firm Officer to Succeed Financial Executives at Comcast
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ComcastÂs two longtime chief financial officers will retire next year and will be succeeded by an executive from a private equity firm.
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AOL Chief Financial Officer Steve Swad will join a private-equity firm and become the latest senior manager to leave as the Internet company tries to transform itself into an online advertising conduit.
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(InfoWorld) - Reactions to Time Warner Inc.'s decision to sack AOL LLC's chief executive officer (CEO) range from lukewarm endorsement to strident disapproval, as the industry tries to make sense of a move many observers find perplexing. Jonathan Miller, who guided AOL through a complicated transformation from an Internet has-been to a credible player, got his walking papers last Wednesday. Randy Falco, a TV industry veteran who was president and chief operating officer of the NBC Universal Television Group, will take over as AOL's chairman and CEO. "It's a strange move, because AOL is on the way up. Miller was responsible for turning around the ship successfully, so it's not clear to me why they're replacing him," says industry analyst Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence. Miller, named chairman and CEO in August 2002, had the difficult task of changing AOL's business model from one focused on dial-up Internet access subscriptions to one centered on online advertising. This involved tearing down AOL's "walled garden" and making freely available on the Web the content and services it previously reserved for paying members via its proprietary software. This leap of faith assumes AOL will make up and surpass with online advertising the revenue it will give up by abandoning its Internet access business. Early indications suggest the plan is working. Although in Time Warner's third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, AOL's revenue declined 3 percent, due to the shrinking access business, online advertising revenue increased 46 percent, faster than the industry average, which hovers between 33 percent and 37 percent. This prompted Time Warner officials and financial analysts to shower Miller and other AOL top leaders with praise. Privately, however, the recovery signs may have come too late and been underwhelming for Time Warner. At a time when an Internet startup like YouTube Inc. gets bought for $1.65 billion, Time Warner may have astronomical expectations for AOL that it didn't see Miller meeting. "Miller's accomplishment is that he transitioned AOL from a fee model to a free model, which gives AOL a future. The problem is that AOL remains a property in trouble, one that isn't performing particularly well, certainly behind Google and Yahoo. That has been the big disappointment. Today, if you have a [company with a] Web model, you're looking for a very rich return on investment," says industry analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group. But as it searches for bigger online ad growth with an Internet industry outsider as CEO, Time Warner risks turning AOL's recovery into a relapse. "Falco doesn't really know the business. That's going to be the problem: he's going to be learning on the job. It may not be a huge problem if he's packaging the company up for sale, but if he's going to try to run it, it's probably going to be a [long] learning experience," Enderle says. As learning goes, Miller is also credited with synchronizing AOL to varying degrees with key trends driving the rebirth of the Web economy, such as blogging, Internet search, digital music, online video and open-development platforms. Lately, he had been spurring AOL product teams to shift their philosophy from making simple yet integrated products and services to developing outstanding ones. "The emphasis today is to make stuff great," Miller said at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco a week before he was dismissed. He added then that this focus is key if AOL wants to increase traffic to its Web sites, which in turn fuels its online ad business. Unlike his successor, Miller was no stranger to the Internet business when he joined AOL. He had been president and CEO of USA Interactive's USA Information and Services (USAIS), which included at the time businesses like Ticketmaster.com, Citysearch, Match.com, USA Electronic Commerce Solutions and Expedia.com. A Time Warner spokesman disputed claims that Falco is an Internet newbie, saying that at NBC he oversaw the launch of several Web sites, including one tied to the network's Olympic Games coverage , and of online initiatives, such as the joint portal for U.S. Hispanics that Yahoo and NBC's Telemundo network announced in May. Ultimately, however, Falco comes on board because of his ad sales and traditional media background. "His TV experience and advertising connections really dovetail perfectly with AOL's focus on video and advertising going forward," the spokesman said. "Randy Falco is the right person to take AOL to the next level." Falco will provide more details about what that "next level" goal is when he takes over at a yet undetermined date, according to the spokesman. Miller remains at AOL for now but will leave Time Warner at a date that also has yet to be determined, the spokesman said. At least one high-profile AOL official has decided to jump ship rather than work under Falco. Jason Calacanis, who sold his very successful Weblogs Inc. company to AOL last October and continued to run it as a stand-alone subsidiary, resigned on Friday, after writing on his blog about his disappointment over Miller's removal. Of course, there are precedents among Internet companies appointing chief executives from traditional media companies, like Terry Semel, who became Yahoo's CEO in 2001 after 24 years with Warner Bros., says James C. Goss, a media and entertainment financial analyst at Barrington Research. Whatever Falco does, it's clear his key mandate will be to leverage his experience in the TV industry to accelerate AOL's ad sales business. If he fails at that, his appointment will be seen as a major mistake. "Obviously, AOL has changed its stripes and this just seems like a reaction to the shift in its business, to have somebody as CEO who has a lot of experience in the media side and, from an organizational standpoint, with a large operation of that nature," Goss says. "This is reflective of the dramatic business model change and of the aspirations" that come with it. Be that as it may, some Internet industry observers remain befuddled. "From the outside, it doesn't seem to make any sense," Sterling says. Â ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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EAST WINDSOR, N.J., Feb. 13  /PRNewswire/ -- William J. (Bill) Kettleson, regional vice president of government and community affairs for Comcast Cable in New Jersey, was appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine to the prestigious Governor's Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service.
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By Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post Staff Writer  AOL said yesterday that its chief financial officer, Stephen Swad, plans to leave the firm for a position at a private-equity firm.
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PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 18  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On Wednesday, September 20, 2006 Stephen B. Burke, Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Corporation , will participate in the 15th Annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference to be held in New York City.
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During his keynote address later this morning at CES 2008, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is slated to introduce a venerable onslaught of brands to the public at large, at least one of which could have a significant and perhaps historic impact on cable television service.
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Build it and they will come...well, some of them. Time Warner Cable and Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ) together announced on Tuesday they&#39;ll form a New York regional sports network.
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Citigroup said yesterday that Sallie L. Krawcheck, the former equity analyst recruited to the bank to clean up its research department, would become its chief financial officer.
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DENVER, Sept. 19  /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast is adding more than 500 jobs across Colorado, the company announced today.  New customer service employees will assist local residential and commercial customers from two new Comcast customer service call centers in Denver and Colorado Springs.
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CEO John Allison discusses the firm's challenges and opportunities.
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(InfoWorld) - AOL on Monday confirmed to its employees the rumored departure of several senior executives and announced a reshuffling of top-tier management duties in a memo penned by Randy Falco,Â the new chief executive officer. Five high-level executives are leaving, all of whom reported directly to Jonathan Miller, the former CEO whoÂ was abruptly fired in mid-NovemberÂ to the surprise of many. Four of them figured prominently in Miller's strategy,Â outlined in September, to complete AOL's radical transformation from a provider of dial-up Internet access that charged for most of its content and services to an open and free Web portal focused on online advertising revenue. Miller had been praised for early success in transitioning the company to an ad-driven model, and some AOL observers are concerned that the shakeup could destroy the momentum he built up. In particular, some view with skepticism that Miller has been replaced by a TV industry veteran and not an Internet specialist. Falco was president and chief operating officer of the NBC Universal Television Group. In Monday's memo, obtained by IDG News Service, Falco praised Miller's plan but said it needed to be "tighter, clearer and better focused on operations" with a greater focus on execution and with more accountability "built into the organization." "In such crucial areas as our speed to market and innovating new products, we have much work ahead of us," Falco wrote. Heading out the door are Jim Bankoff, executive vice president of consumer and publisher services, and Joe Redling, president of AOL Mobile, customer management and paid services, and CEO of AOL International. Joining them will be John McKinley,Â whom AOL had already acknowledged was leaving. Randy Boe, executive vice president for consumer advocacy and privacy, has also resigned, as well as John Buckley, executive vice president of corporate communications. Falco's memo doesn't say when these men will leave. All decided to resign on their own accord, sources said. "AOL has just gone through elements of a significant reorganization, and I know that the departure of well-respected colleagues and friends is not easy for anyone here," Falco wrote. Eight executives will report directly to Falco, including Ted Leonsis, AOL vice chairman; Ron Grant, president and chief operating officer; and Steve Swad, chief financial officer. Grant, a former senior VP of operations at parent company Time Warner Inc. who arrived after Miller's departure, will oversee AOL's business units: products, programming, platforms, AOL media networks, paid services, and international. The new CTO, Balan Nair, will also report to him, "because smoothly integrating our technology resources into the business units has been such a priority," Falco wrote. Kevin Conroy, who reported directly to Miller, will be in charge of products, including AOL Mail, the AOL PC software, portals, video and video search, storage, safety and security products, AIM and mobile products. Bill Wilson will head AOL's programming, an area Bankoff ran, while Falco is still looking for someone to oversee AOL's platforms, including the search engines, e-commerce offerings and online mapping site MapQuest. Mike Kelly, who also reported directly to Miller, will continue to head AOL Media Networks, which includes the key ad sales operation. Kim Partoll, who reported to the departing Redling, will continue in her role managing AOL's paid services. Another area Redling managed, international, still lacks a chief.
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The chief executive of Citigroup said he expected to name a successor quickly to Sallie L. Krawcheck as Citigroupâs finance chief.
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Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc. are planning a joint bid for Adelphia Communications Corp. as part of a deal that could lead to a broad realignment of interests in the cable industry and increase Comcast's already dominant presence in the mid-Atlantic region.
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By Amy Thomson  John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems, said Thursday that he planned to remain in the top job for two to five more years to help with the company's transition to video-based conferencing and networking products.
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BellSouth Corp. on Monday said Mark Feidler will become chief operating officer on Jan. 1 amid a reshuffling of several higher-level executives.
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Most senior executives at large U.S.  companies plan to increase hiring and investments over the next  12 months amid growing optimism about the economy, according to  a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers released on Thursday.