INTERNET America Online replaces senior executives

The CEO wants to shake up a company that's been criticized for slow reactions.
WASHINGTON POST
America Online Inc. put new leaders in senior posts and revamped its corporate structure Monday, undertaking a sweeping overhaul just one month before the company plans to slash costs by firing more than 700 employees.
The far-reaching changes, directed by chief executive Jonathan F. Miller, will result in the departures of three of the Internet firm's most senior executives from its Dulles, Va., headquarters. In an e-mail to thousands of employees, Miller made it clear that he intends to shake up an online giant that has been criticized for moving too slowly and not doing enough to foster teamwork.
In addition to making several personnel changes, Miller said he is splitting the company into four divisions and giving each responsibility for its own operations and financial performance.
Three executives -- Lisa A. Hook, who headed the company's high-speed, or broadband, initiative; Vice Chairman Joseph A. Ripp, who oversaw technology and marketing; and Michael J. Kelly, who served as chief financial officer in the aftermath of the much-maligned merger of AOL and Time Warner, are all leaving America Online. Ripp is returning to AOL's parent company, Time Warner Inc., in New York, where he worked previously.
New division
AOL veteran Ted Leonsis will continue in the senior ranks as vice chairman. Leonsis, who also owns the Washington Capitals hockey team, will head a new division dubbed "Audience." It will focus on profiting mostly by selling advertising that reaches users of AOL's various Web sites and products, including AIM, AOL's free instant messaging service; Moviefone; Mapquest; Netscape.com; and a revamped AOL.com Web site.
The other divisions are Access, which encompasses the various services AOL sells to get computer users online; AOL Europe; and Digital Services, which will focus on telephone and other premium services.
AOL has said it plans to fire more than 700 people in early December, more than half of whom work in Northern Virginia, where the company has about 5,000 employees.
Although advertising at AOL has been improving in recent quarters, the company has continued to suffer subscriber losses, as users depart for cheaper or faster Internet services. In its third quarter, AOL lost 646,000 subscribers, bringing its U.S. subscriber base down to 22.7 million, some 2 million less than it had one year earlier.