AOL to restructure senior management

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK  - Three senior executives will leave Time Warner Inc.'s AOL as part of a management shake-up to restructure the Internet unit and boost advertising sales, sources familiar with the plan said.

AOL declined to comment.

The sources said the departing executives include Jim Bankoff, executive vice president of consumer and publisher services; and Joe Redling, an executive vice president who once oversaw the company's access business and more recently was put in charge of its international businesses and mobile technologies.

John Buckley, executive vice president of corporate communications, also is leaving, sources said.

Chief Technology Officer John McKinley is leaving at the end of the year, when his contract expires. His departure is not part of the restructuring.

News of the changes were first reported by digital media blog PaidContent.org on Friday.

The departures come amid a wholesale restructuring that began this summer to turn the once-mighty Internet dial-up services business into an online advertising power.

Time Warner's third-quarter financial results displayed early signs it was succeeding, with online ad sales rising some 46 percent. The company has said it expects Internet ad sales to rise on par with industry averages in 2007.

AOL in November also named the former president of NBC Universal Television Group, Randy Falco, as its new chief executive, betting an ad industry veteran could better serve its new mission.

Ron Grant, a Time Warner executive who worked closely with Time Warner chief operating officer Jeffrey Bewkes on AOL's turnaround plan, also joined AOL as its president.

Next week, AOL will announce details of its restructuring, including the appointment of new executives and the expansion and reshuffling of duties of executives who will stay, sources said.

Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of products, marketing and distribution, will remain, but will most likely no longer oversee marketing and will add other duties. Mike Kelly, head of ad sales, and Stephen Swad, AOL chief financial officer, will also stay.

This week, AOL Europe president Carlo D'Asaro Biondo also left the company, six weeks after being promoted to the role. Biondo joined French media company Lagardere as international managing director of its multimedia division, according to a Guardian newspaper report.