Miller tapped as CEO of America Online

IDG News Service - In a widely anticipated move, AOL Time Warner Inc. today named Jonathan Miller the new chairman and CEO of its tottering America Online Inc. Internet division.
Miller, who will be responsible for all of AOL's businesses, will report to Don Logan, head of the company's new Media and Communications Group, the media conglomerate said.
Miller, 45, was previously with USA Interactive Inc., where he was president and CEO of USA Information and Services (USAIS) until he resigned in June. USAIS is the interactive unit of what has been known as USA Networks, the e-commerce and entertainment company run by media mogul Barry Diller. Diller recently sold USA Networks' film and television units to focus on the company's Internet business, prompting Miller to depart.
Miller will replace Robert Pittman, AOL Time Warner's former chief operating officer, who had been serving as interim head of AOL since last April, when the unit's CEO, Barry Schuler, stepped down. Pittman announced that he was leaving the company last month, however, creating a vacancy atop the struggling Internet unit (see story).
The new CEO is expected to face a mountain of challenges as he takes over a division that has been passed around lately like a hot potato. Not only has AOL's growth been stymied by a prolonged downturn in the Internet advertising market, but the unit has also recently come under scrutiny for alleged financial misdoings. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice are investigating accusations that AOL Time Warner inappropriately booked revenue to AOL in an effort to artificially boost the unit's performance.
What's more, AOL Time Warner has been undergoing a restructuring process in the past few months that has pushed the balance of power toward the Time Warner side of the company. Analysts have predicted that the recent ascension of former Time Warner executives will place the company's focus on more traditional media such as film and cable, with AOL pushed to the sidelines.
However, the Internet unit still has more than 34 million subscribers, a hefty brand name and an elevated role as an Internet advertising platform for all of AOL Time Warner's other media holdings.
Miller's first goal should be getting back to basics, said Paul Kim, an analyst at New York-based Kaufman Brothers LP.
"First, he needs to get AOL focused," said Kim. "AOL has always been about ease of functionality and good marketing."
Kim added that AOL Time Warner's previous aim to leverage its various media holdings against one another weakened the Internet

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