Jonathan Miller ousted from AOL

After searching months for a replacement, Time Warner has finally pushed out the CEO of its AOL internet unit. Jonathan Miller is leaving the group, to be replaced by an ad executive from NBC. Miller's boss at Time Warner, taking his cue from President Bush after Hurricane Katrina, told analysts his guy was doing a terrific job. Earlier this month. Which shows why one shouldn't believe anything companies say. For an insider's take:

While its revenues from internet access subscriptions decline, AOL's been enjoying, along with other internet media companies, a growth in advertising revenue, which grew 46% at the unit to the third quarter. Miller's public image was one of a progressive, boldly killing the ISP subscription business so that AOL could live, like Yahoo, as an internet portal, free to users, and paid for by internet advertising. Well, that's how AOL briefed the press.

But for key senior managers at Time Warner, Miller wasn't moving fast enough, and his spin, to the press, just annoyed them. And Miller's obvious preference for a deal with Google, rather than Microsoft, weakened Time Warner's negotiating position. Here, from an IM conversation this evening, is what Time-Warner won't say in public: They think he's incompetent. He's unable to make decisions. Meetings with him end in no firm commitment to a next step. He's interested in all options, no matter how remote.

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