Time Warner Inc. on Wednesday promoted entertainment executive Jeff Bewkes to the post of president and chief operating officer, No. 2 at the company's top management ladder, putting him next in line to chief executive Dick Parsons.

The move came just one day after the world's largest media company sealed a multi-year advertising and content pact with Google. Google will pay 1 billion U.S. dollars for a 5-percent stake in Time Warner's America Online (AOL) as part of a major strategic alliance between the companies.

On Wednesday, Time Warner also said that Don Logan, chairman of its media and communications group, will retire at the end of 2006.

In a statement on the company's Web site, Parsons, 57, praised both the incoming and outgoing execs: "By running our businesses better than ever, we continued to build sustainable long-term value, gained tremendous financial flexibility and positioned ourselves to take full advantage of the digital world's emerging opportunities. Now, after having accomplished all that together, we're smoothly transitioning our senior management team with Don's well-earned retirement and Jeff's well-deserved promotion."

Logan, 61, and Bewkes, 53, have been key members of Parsons' team as Time Warner vies to get back on track following its ill-fated merger with AOL in 2001.

"The three of them, together, have really been straightening out all the messes that existed," says independent analyst Hal Vogel.

Bewkes, most recently chairman of Time Warner's entertainment and networks unit, is known as a straight shooter with a knack for nurturing talent. His past duties included overseeing Time Warner's entertainment division, which includes HBO, The WB Television Network, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.

Bewkes will oversee all of Time Warner's divisions and is expected to have a strong focus on helping the company transition into digital media.

"The one area of our company where we're not best in breed is the Internet space," says Parsons. The Google-AOL deal, he says, "is a big step in the right direction."

Source: Xinhua