[King Gizzard]

Myspace > Facebook/twitter

News Corp sells ailing Myspace

Posted 39 minutes ago

News Corp has sold Myspace for a fraction of its purchase price, bringing the curtain down on Rupert Murdoch's tie-up with a one-time internet star that ended up being eclipsed by Facebook.

Myspace, which was bought by News Corp in 2005 for $US580 million, was bought by Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform, which said financial terms were confidential.

The News Corp-owned technology blog All Things Digital put the purchase price at $US35 million, however, and said the deal includes slashing about half of Myspace's staff of between 400 and 500 people.

"Myspace is a recognised leader that has pioneered the social media space," Tim Vanderhook, chief executive of Irvine, California-based Specific Media said in a statement.

"The company has transformed the ways in which audiences discover, consume and engage with content online. We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

Mr Vanderhook said News Corp would take a minority equity stake in Specific Media as part of the deal. According to All Things Digital, News Corp will retain a 5 to 10 per cent stake in Myspace.

Myspace was the leading social networking website when it was bought by News Corp six years ago but it has been losing members to Facebook for years.

According to tracking firm comScore, Myspace had 21.8 million unique monthly US visitors in August 2005 to Facebook's 8.3 million.

Facebook surpassed Myspace in the number of US visitors in May 2009 and has kept adding users since then while Myspace's membership eroded, according to comScore.

In May, Facebook had 157.2 million unique monthly US visitors compared to Myspace's 34.9 million, comScore said. Facebook has nearly 700 million members worldwide.

Myspace chief executive Mike Jones, in a memo to company employees obtained by Silicon Valley technology blogs, said he would leave Myspace in two months after helping Specific Media with the transition.

Myspace has gone through a series of lay-offs, chief executives and makeovers in recent years as News Corp sought to cut losses at the site and reverse the decline in membership.

As its popularity waned, Myspace has been fashioning itself recently as a hub for music fans.

News Corp chief operating officer Chase Carey put Myspace on notice in November saying the losses at the social network were "unsustainable."

News Corp formally put Myspace up for sale in January and was reportedly seeking $100 million for the site.