ITV is reportedly considering selling off Friends Reunited, the social networking site it paid £175m for in 2006. It's unlikely a sale now would achieve even half that.

The broadcaster is implementing a series of cost-cutting measures as it attempts to shore up its struggling TV business and cope with massive debt and pension liabilities.

When ITV bought the pioneering site it was already being rapidly caught and overtaken in user numbers by newer, fuller featured, free access sites such as Facebook and Bebo.

By charging users, though, Friends Reunited unlike the web 2.0 upstarts has made profits in past years. However, ITV dropped subscription fees last year, fearing Friends Reunited would become irrelevant as venture-funded rivals gave away limitless free storage and bandwidth in order to sell adverts at pathetically low rates.

More news on the future of the site is expected when ITV delivers annual results on 4 March. ®

Related stories

• Electronics giants raise ruckus over Project Canvas (8 May 2009)
• ITV to sell Friends Reunited, axe 600 jobs (4 March 2009)
• ITV to write down Friends Reunited value, says report (5 January 2009)
• Friends Reunited killer gets life (21 April 2008)
• Friends Reunited considers dropping pay walls (2 November 2007)
• ITV confirms takeover approach rejected (22 March 2006)
• ITV swallows Friends Reunited (6 December 2005)