AOL Foresees Clear Sailing for Merger

Will the largest Internet service in the US have its way with TWX? One Senior VP thinks it's a done deal.

by Thor Olavsrud of internetnews.com [October 23, 2000]

America Online Inc. is so confident that its merger with Time Warner will be acceptable to regulators that it does not have a contingency plan, according to Paul Corvino, senior vice president and general manager of Interactive Marketing for AOL.

Corvino spoke Monday at the ADWEEK Forum during Internet World Fall 2000 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

"We're just working on the assumption that this merger is going through," Corvino said.

EU good to go
He said the companies are anticipating the go-ahead from US regulators in the next few weeks. European officials approved the merger several weeks ago.

This merger has gone better than expected," Corvino said, adding that while regulators have talked about some concessions the two companies may have to make, none of the concessions have been too onerous.

"We're certain this deal is going to go through," he said. "This whole thing is going a lot better than any of us ever dreamed."

He said the two companies have made strong inroads as far as creating a single strategy for going forward. The first step was tactical he said, finding simple synergy's between the two media giants. He said placing Sports Illustrated on AOL's welcome screen — thus driving traffic to the magazine's site — was an example.

He said the next step is strategic, sharing resources to create a better product for consumers and advertisers. The final stage is transformation.

"It's no longer advertising," he said. "The question is how do we turn it into a total marketing solution."

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