Can Jennifer Love Hewitt resurrect America Online?
While defending itself from investigations into its accounting practices, shuffling its executive ranks and casting a wide net for new users, AOL Time Warner’s online unit also is getting back to basics. Borrowing a page from the broadcast TV model, AOL executives are returning to the idea that offering exclusive content–whether acquired by third parties or created in-house–will give people a reason to join and stay on. In one recent example, the company offered the first peek at actress Jennifer Love Hewitt’s debut music video, “BareNaked.” For other features, AOL is sifting through the vast music resources of Time Warner for exclusive content. “I think the network model is a very interesting one, because the approach we’re taking has many similarities,” explained Kevin Conroy, who runs AOL Music and who will also head the company’s overall entertainment strategy. “The Internet is a growing media outlet, and it provides us with amazing opportunities…to package audio, videos, photo
