Wednesday, June 29, 2011

News Corp finally sells MySpace

News Corporation has sold its ailing social networking site MySpace to online advertising firm Specific Media.

News Corp paid $580m (�361m) for MySpace in 2005, but users and advertisers left the site for rival social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The sale terms were not disclosed, but there were unconfirmed reports that price paid was as low as $35m.

Specific Media said: "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

Specific Media was founded in 1999 by three brothers - Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook - and is based in Irvine, California.

MySpace was a leading social networking site when it was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

But the business was eclipsed by rivals, and despite attempts to revive MySpace's fortunes the site has been a financial millstone.

News Corp's chief operating officer Chase Carey said in November that the losses at MySpace were "unsustainable".

Although News Corp does not publish specific results for Myspace in its accounts, the "other" segment, which includes the social network, reported a second quarter operating loss of $156m - $31m worse than a year earlier.

The Reuters news agency cited a News Corp-owned blogging site as reporting that MySpace was sold for $35m.



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