By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
Three senior executives are leaving AOL following a recent shake-up that brought in a veteran NBC executive as the online company's new chief executive, two people familiar with the matter said Friday.
The executives are Joe Redling, who is chairman and chief executive of AOL International, Jim Bankoff, executive vice president for consumer and publisher services, and John Buckley, executive vice president for corporate communications.
The company had no official comment. The people who confirmed the changes spoke on condition of anonymity because they involved personnel matters not yet announced.
Over the past two years, the company has been giving away more of its services to drive traffic to its Web sites and boost online advertising dollars. In August, AOL accelerated the transition by deciding to give away AOL.com e-mail addresses and software once reserved for paying customers.
AOL parent Time Warner Inc. later lured Randy Falco, NBC Universal Television Group's president and chief operating officer, to run AOL LLC, pushing out Jonathan Miller. Time Warner executives had been supportive of Miller's efforts to set AOL on a new course, but wanted someone with operational experience to execute the plan.
Several AOL executives have contractual clauses allowing them to leave when senior management changes, triggering the departures of Redling, Bankoff and Buckley, according to the people familiar with the decisions.
Earlier in the week, Carlo d'Asaro Biondo, the chief executive of AOL's European operations, announced plans to leave after less than two months at the helm to take another job. John McKinley, acting chief technology officer, has previously said he would leave.
The people said the changes were voluntary and unrelated to the layoffs of about 450 workers at AOL's Dulles, Va., headquarters on Wednesday.
PaidContent reported the departures on its Web site Friday.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
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