News Corp considers selling ailing MySpace

Despite a revamp of its site to gain more profiles, the future of the once-popular MySpace which used to compete neck-to-neck with Facebook for followers, does not appear so bright.

The social-networking site posted losses as much as US$156 million in the last quarter. A few days ago, it closed its Australian office in a bid to axe 500 – or approximately half - of its global staff. This was on the back of a 2009 employee cutback of 1,000.

News Corp, which acquired MySpace for US$580 million in 2005, has revealed that it was considering a sale, or a merger, of the once-popular networking site. A spin-off to MySpace was also one of the options, which might alter MySpace’s ownership structure.

While none of the options has been seriously explored, News Corp has announced that it would be willing to help fund a spinoff as well as bringing in partners, push for privatising, and offering stock options to its employees.

In October last year, News Corp made a last-ditch attempt to turn around the ailing fortunes of MySpace with its second redesign of the site in two years.

The revamp of the site that targeted younger users and musicians seemed to work, picking up over three million more profiles since the change. “MySpace’s niche has always been in music, and it’s great for music and musicians, and the way to resonate if it develops its niche better,” said Joe Nguyen, Comscore’s vice president, Southeast Asia.