AOL Video Chief Dermot McCormack Exits Company

AOL’s video department has lost one of its top executives. President of AOL Video and Studios Dermot McCormack has left the digital media publisher and online video brand.

McCormack’s departure comes less than a year after the executive joined AOL in October 2014. The former AOL video president is also leaving the company only a few months after it was acquired by Verizon. McCormack oversaw both AOL’s original content studios as well as the video syndication platform AOL On. However, as AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong told the Wall Street Journal, the company has slowly decentralized its video initiatives to its various properties, like The Huffington Post and TechCrunch. Armstrong said McCormack’s role had become a third of what it was back in October, and the overall change “was a very natural progression.”

When Variety contacted AOL for comment, a rep simply said, “We thank Dermot for his many contributions to AOL and wish him all the best in his next endeavor.”

Prior to AOL, McCormack worked for six years at Viacom Music and Logo Group’s Connected Content Group, which included overseeing digital projects for brands like MTV and VH1. McCormack also worked as SVP of Interactive Product Management at Cablevision Systems.

McCormack is only one example of an executive to recently exit a high-level online video company. Erin McPherson and Jeremy Welt left Maker Studios in late August 2015. More recently, Endemol Beyond’s Will Keenan joined the live streaming startup Streamup after leaving Endemol in August.