Did Rupert Murdoch wait way too long to fix MySpace? It’s easy to get that impression from the News Corp. earnings call today.
The takeaway: The site is losing traffic and money and is going to get at least $100 million less from Google than it once thought. “It’s a work in progress,” News Corp. says, over and over again.
Steve Ballmer says he doesn’t expect to do much search-related M&A, which makes sense since there’s little left to buy. But he may be willing to pay for search. Ask AOL.
The owner of The Wall Street Journal tries to convince other publishers join up and charge readers for online news. Tough job! Even tougher: Creating news worth paying for.
Hey, here’s some “process journalism” for you: Anyone know what happened at the Hulu board meeting in Los Angeles on Monday? Besides News Corp. digital boss Jon Miller taking his seat on the board? Inquiring minds want to know! In the meantime, enjoy Jon Stewart tearing apart CNN’s clumsy attempts to use Facebook and Twitter to augment its… reporting.
New York’s Internet Week featured party after party, attended by the same group of Webby movers, shakers and hustlers gulping down drinks and snacks, night after night. The finale: A rooftop gathering in midtown Manhattan that hosted a large number of the digital media’s movers and shakers, plus their bosses, including Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Tim Armstrong and Jon Miller. Here’s the video.
Last fall, the consumer electronics giant bought Napster. Now it’s assembling a fund for more M&A, to be headed by digital vet Ross Levinsohn. And for good measure, it’s in the market for a chief digital officer.
As All Things Digital reported earlier today, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is stepping down from his post, but will stay on board as a “strategic advisor” to the company. MySpace owner News Corp. didn’t name a successor to DeWolfe, but we believe the company is close to bringing Owen Van Natta, the former COO at Facebook and current CEO of Project Playlist, in as a replacement. News Corp. also said that it is in talks to move aside Tom Anderson, DeWolfe’s longtime partner, from his position as president.
MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is likely to be on his way out of the company he helped found, and News Corp., which bought the social network in 2005, has a single potential successor in mind. Sources say that person is former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta, who is currently CEO of music start-up Project Playlist. People familiar with the matter tell me that DeWolfe and News Corp., specifically new digital boss Jon Miller, are discussing a leadership change today.
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »
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