SHOW TIME FOR AOL TIME WARNER

摘要

It's a decade ago. Warner Communications and Time Inc. are merging, and wicked-smart CEO Steven J. Ross brings back his former protege, 36-year-old Robert W. Pittman, one of the creators of MTV, in a risky effort to fire up the combo's creative juices. Pittman's mission improbable: to launch a host of new businesses by exploiting synergies between the fiercely independent magazine, movie, and cable-TV units. If the division chieftains don't cooperate, Pittman has the green light to forge ahead without them. It's a dicey proposition, since the execs have "their knives out" for Pittman, says Henry R. Silverman, a Ross associate who now heads Cendant Corp.