America Online chief to step down

Barry Schuler, the chief executive of AOL Time Warner's embattled AOL division, will relinquish his post and lead a newly formed division to develop digital services for the media giant.

Bob Pittman, currently the co-chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner, will assume full responsibility of the AOL division. Pittman will still become the sole COO of AOL Time Warner once current CEO Gerald Levin steps down in May.

"Nobody understands AOL's operations and potential better than Bob Pittman, and no one is better qualified to manage this business," Richard Parsons, who will replace Levin, said in a statement. "Bob is taking on this role at a time of both opportunity and challenge."

Once billed as the "jewel in the crown," the AOL division has come under tremendous scrutiny from Wall Street for expected flat revenue growth. The division is expected to be hit hard by the online advertising collapse in the coming year after many of its lucrative multi-year deals failed to renew.

News source: Yahoo! News