Pittman out as AOL Time Warner continues to seek synergies

AOL Time Warner COO Bob Pittman, who lost out to Dick Parsons for the position of CEO of the merged media company, has now lost out altogether as a member of the AOL Time Warner staff. Pittman resigned yesterday and was replaced by the two-headed team of HBO Chairman Jeff Bewkes and Time Inc. Chairman Don Logan who will report to Parsons.

AOL Time Warner--along its stock--has been under heavy pressure to fulfill promises of merging AOL’s access with Time Warner’s content. Pittman had been visible in leading efforts to combine the strengths of the two companies whose management continued to be embroiled in feudal turf wars.

Under the restructured management, Bewkes will head up the company’s entertainment and network businesses (HBO, New Line Cinema, Turner Networks), and Logan will handle new media and communications, including AOL, Time Inc. and Time Warner Cable.

--Jim Barthold, Senior Editor