Detailing AOL’s Change Of Course; Reshaping The Access Business

I can’t seem to shake this mental image of the yellow AOL running man racing by yelling, “Free at last!” … although, after this morning’s round of conference calls, a more accurate image might be of him emerging from the spin cycle in the Time Warner washer. (Where’s an illustrator when you need him/her?) That’s not to cast any aspersions. TW and AOL execs have to convince the online public that AOL and free can be synonymous; investors/analysts that this makes fiscal sense; and advertisers that the change makes AOL.com and its network a more formidable advertising tool.
From the AOL conference call (hosted by TW President and COO Jeff Bewkes and AOL Chairman and CEO Jonathan Miller; attended by TW Chairman and CEO Dick Parsons): Much of the success hinges on thee factors: slicing out subscriber acquisition and management costs, continuing to increase ad revenues and other revenue streams; and converting current members/attracting new ones to users of AOL free — ie ad-supported — services.
Why change: Bewkes: “If we did not change we’d be giving up 30-40 billion page views this year. รข

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