Updated: For an illustration of why Randy Falco is the new chairman and CEO of AOL look no farther than today’s CSFB q-and-a when the interviewer began the section about AOL by congratulating Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons on the “impressive” hiring. Parons took the ball and ran, being careful to start by saying his comments about Falco weren’t meant to besmirch displaced top exec Jon Miller. Falco knows how to work collaboratively, knows the ad biz and — very important, says Parsons — is our kind of guy and fits in with the rest of the team. He dismissed what he said is the only knock he’s heard — Falco’s TV-centric career. Parsons: “This is an advertising business we’re trying to build here.” Falco has 30 years of relationships, etc. “It’s not as if he’s lived in a bubble last 10-15 years at NBC. While he is not of the int in terms of his pedigree, he’s certainly aware.”
— When I asked after the session if yet another reorg is coming at AOL, Parsons said he wanted to be careful not to create at an atmosphere of fear with his response. Falco and new COO Ron Grant, a former AOL-er, have been told to go down there, look around and figure out they have to do and do it.
— Make of this what you will …, the session before Parsons ended with Edgar Bronfman, Jr. taking a minute to talk about the TW chairman. “Thank you, Dick, for selling us the business.” Parsons has taken a beating, he said, but “he’s making some real progress and I’m glad to see it.”
More from Parsons:
On spinning off AOL: He knocked down the suggestion that AOL needs its own currency but said of the idea, “We’re still evaluating that … that’s an issue that we debate from time to time.” In other words, don’t hold your breath.
On downloads: “I think you’ll see next year our studio and others go to a download-to-burn format.
He expects download to burn to hit kiosks in 2007. “If we do this right it
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