News Corp

AOL, MTV alums join MySpace's revamped exec team

Two new members have been added to the fresh lineup of MySpace's executive ranks, following the appointment of CEO Owen Van Natta last week.

Jason Hirschhorn, most recently president of Sling Media Entertainment and before that MTV Networks' chief digital officer, joins MySpace as its chief product officer. He's the second prominent MTV veteran to take on a role at the News Corp.-owned MySpace in the past year, following MySpace Music president Courtney Holt.

Hirschhorn is firmly on the digital-media and entertainment side of things, something that will invariably come into play as MySpace (ideally) restructures itself … Read more

Van Natta as MySpace CEO: 'Effective immediately'

It's official: News Corp. has named former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta as MySpace's CEO, following reports on Thursday that an announcement was imminent. Van Natta's appointment is "effective immediately," a release from MySpace said.

Van Natta succeeds Chris DeWolfe, who stepped down from the post earlier this week, reportedly at the request of newly appointed News Corp. digital czar Jonathan Miller. DeWolfe will remain on the company's board.

"I'm thrilled to have the privilege to pilot MySpace in what is sure to be an incredibly exciting and rewarding next chapter for … Read more

Report: Van Natta to become MySpace CEO

We can expect an announcement very soon that Owen Van Natta will be replacing Chris DeWolfe as CEO of MySpace, All Things Digital reported on Thursday afternoon.

Considering that AllThingsD's Kara Swisher has a very good track record of knowing Van Natta's whereabouts, we're going to take this one as solid. The announcement could come as early as Friday, Swisher wrote, and though there's no word on timing, we're guessing that it'll either be after the market closes or possibly held off until Monday.

Van Natta rose to the tech world's upper ranks … Read more

Listen up, MySpace: Here's how to get back on top

Needless to say, MySpace is in a bit of a tight spot. The News Corp.-owned social network has been eclipsed in traffic by Facebook worldwide and may be close to losing its top spot in the U.S. And now, a management shakeup initiated by new News Corp. digital boss Jonathan Miller has seen the departure of CEO Chris DeWolfe and shuffling of president Tom Anderson's role.

Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, who sold Weblogs Inc. to AOL when Miller was in charge over there, came up with a list of ten priorities for the incoming CEO. He's mostly … Read more

MySpace may be eyeing in-house CEO candidate

Even with all the buzz around Owen Van Natta, the former Facebook chief operating officer, as the leading candidate to replace outgoing CEO Chris DeWolfe at MySpace, I'm hearing talk that MySpace is also taking a look at Jeff Berman, its executive vice president of marketing and content.

Berman, who joined the company in 2006, was described as a dark-horse candidate, said sources with knowledge of the job search, who could not confirm whether Berman has been interviewed. Berman is well liked by Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, the division that oversees digital properties for News Corp., … Read more

What does Hulu offer that YouTube doesn't?

When it comes to offering full-length content on the Web, YouTube isn't ready to yield to Hulu.

On Thursday, the San Bruno, Calif.-based video site of Google announced that it had reached agreement with notable entertainment companies, including Sony Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment, and CBS (publisher of CNET News) to offer visitors full-length TV shows and feature films.

What this means is that YouTube wants to become a one-stop shop for everything video.

The strategy seems obvious. YouTube already has more than 100 million people visiting every month to watch a mixture of short clips created by amateurs … Read more

MySpace goes after Yelp with Citysearch partnership

MySpace started off as a hub for indie bands to connect with their fans. Now, with a new partnership with the IAC/InterActiveCorp-owned Citysearch, it's hoping to do the same for the likes of bars, clubs, and restaurants.

Called "MySpace Local," the new section on the News Corp.-owned MySpace will be rooted in existing listings from Citysearch (restricted to major U.S. cities) that are souped up with social features like the ones that you might see on a band or celebrity's MySpace page (photos, videos, comments, and the like). It's launching with just &… Read more

Murdoch biographer: News Corp. should buy Twitter

So should News Corp. buy Twitter? That's what Vanity Fair columnist and pundit Michael Wolff speculated this week in an article on Newser.com, the aggregation site he founded.

"There may not be anything less than Twitter that can distract Wall Street from News Corp.'s stubborn and, at this point, unnatural newspaper fetish," Wolff wrote, "and, as well, convince it, for one last hurrah, that (CEO Rupert Murdoch) isn't...well, gone."

The catalyst for Wolff's recommendation was the recent hire of former AOL chief Jon Miller as head of News Corp.'s … Read more

Reports: News Corp. to hire former AOL chief

News Corp. is about to hire former AOL Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Miller to head up the media conglomerate's digital initiatives, replacing Peter Levinsohn, according several news reports, including two on News Corp.-owned publications.

Miller's new job would oversee all online operations including the popular MySpace social-networking site as well as the company's investment in the also popular Hulu video site, according to a report late Friday on The Wall Street Journal.

In her Boomtown blog on the All Thing Digital Web site, Kara Swisher further explained Friday night that Miller is still bound by a … Read more

Report: Disney in talks to join Hulu

The Walt Disney Company is discussing a deal to take an equity stake in Hulu in exchange for providing the video portal with ABC programming, according to a published report.

Citing unnamed sources, news blog PaidContent says that it's not clear how much of ABC's content would be involved, but a final deal could include ESPN, the sports cable behemoth that has been a goldmine for Disney.

Representatives from Disney and Hulu were not immediately available.

The talks between the two companies reportedly are "serious," but a final deal has not been reached, according to two … Read more