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MySpace quivers under News Corp axe

Social network site to be offed?

MySpace is continuing to limp along on the interwebs and the once hugely popular social network even gave itself a makeover last week. But News Corp, which owns the firm, could pull the plug on the entire operation within the year.

As reported by another News Corp tentacle – All Things Digital – yesterday, Rupert Murdoch’s company could soon be calling in the axe man.

During a conference call about News Corp’s first quarter earnings, the firm’s COO Chase Carey offered the following sombre comments about MySpace.

“We’ve been clear that MySpace has been a problem,” he said. Despite that the News Corp management still “feel really good about” the site’s recent relaunch.

Carey then went on to admit: “Current losses are not acceptable or sustainable… But we know that we have to work very hard in [the] coming months to get this thing sustainable.”

News Corp isn’t giving MySpace much breathing space to improve, following the interface overhaul, either.

“We judge [the success or failure of the relaunch] in quarters, not in years. [The] goal is to get to a place where top-line revenue is going in the right direction and [there’s] a clear path to profitability.”

Traffic numbers for MySpace, which saw revenue plummet $70m compared to sales in the same quarter a year earlier, need to be better or else the website could be readied for the knacker’s yard sooner than some might have expected.

Or else, as noted by ATD, which cites an insider, the unloved service could be sold off to a buyer – if one can be found. ®

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