News Corporation shakes up MySpace

0

News Corporation announced that Owen Van Natta will step down from his position as MySpace CEO, effective immediately. He will be replaced by newly-elevated co-Presidents Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, who will each report to Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of Digital Media for News Corporation.


All three executives joined MySpace in April 2009. Jones previously served as COO and Hirschhorn as Chief Product Officer.

“Owen took on an incredible challenge in working to refocus and revitalize MySpace, and the business has shown very positive signs recently as a result of his dedicated work. However, in talking to Owen about his priorities both personally and professionally going forward, we both agreed that it was best for him to step down at this time. I want to thank Owen for all of his efforts,” said Millert in a statement announcing the shake up.

“Mike and Jason have demonstrated true leadership in their operational and product guidance, respectively, and I have the utmost confidence in both of them to lead MySpace into its next chapter,” Miller added.

A  joint statement attributed to Jones and Hirschhorn had this to say: “We joined MySpace last April with very a specific set of goals in mind, and are anxious to continue working together to make those goals a reality. This business is now pointed in the right direction, and we have a great team of employees that will continue to push MySpace closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content.”

RBR-TVBR observation: MySpace? When’s the last time you had any reason to visit MySpace? That’s the problem with Internet investments. It is hard to tell what is a long-term business and what is a passing fad.