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A 31-year veteran NBC Universal exec, Randy Falco, has just been named to take over from Jon Miller as Cchairman and chief executive of AOL, as the Time Warner operating unit struggles to re-invent itself as a free, ad-supported destination for web users.

The Los Angeles Times notes that through this hire Time Warner gains a nuts-and-bolts manager with expertise in video programming and relationships with key advertisers - crucial assets as AOL tries to lure visitors with a range of sponsored entertainment offerings.

Falco had interviewed with Miller and others at Time Warner for what some assumed would be AOL's second-in-command position. It was unclear what allowed Falco to vault into the top job, although Time Warner executives have said privately that although Miller was a "visionary" and "strategic thinker," they were interested in an executive whose strength was operations.

"What this deal signifies is that the Internet isn't that different anymore - it's big media," said Jeff Lanctot, general manager of online advertising agency Avenue A/Razorfish. "And big-media experience is important when you're building a big media company."

The move didn't just catch outsiders offguard. Many AOL insiders were reportedly stunned, particularly because AOL's third-quarter advertising revenue jumped 46 percent compared with a year earlier, the first validation of AOL's shift from a subscription-based Internet access business to a free online portal. Falco's predecessor was one of the key architects of that strategy.

The announcement has generated plenty of online ink. InternetNews weighed in with extra details of Falco's extensive advertising background, reporting his involvement in coordinating NBC's coverage of the Olympics and refining NBC's approach to selling advertising based on young, upscale viewers. More important to AOL, he was integral in a drive to sell advertising on NBC's internet services, such as NBC.com and iVillage, the women-focused website that NBC bought earlier this year for about $600 million.

The appointment is not without its risks. Falco is exiting a culture based around delivering a limited range of content to millions of eyeballs, opting instead for one where millions of fragments of content are competing for share of eye. It's not an easy transition.

Time Warner, for its part, is betting that relationships and operational excellence will be more effective than "the vision thing."

Big clients place business with big media. Whether they're devolving fast enough to "get" little big media is still anybody's guess.