Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Special report: How News Corp got lost in Myspace
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Slideshow
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Scientists find superbugs in Delhi drinking water
4:43am EDT
Wisconsin high court challenger declares victory
8:47am EDT
U.N. troops surround Gbagbo's "last defenders"
|
11:37am EDT
Scientists find superbugs in Delhi drinking water
2:29am EDT
Strong earthquake shakes Japan's ruined northeast coast
11:28am EDT
Discussed
114
U.S. to reach debt limit by May 16: Geithner
78
Stumbling blocks remain in budget fight
72
US Republican budget plan would cut $5.8 trln in 10 yrs
Watched
Robotic bird takes flight into the future
Mon, Apr 4 2011
Ouattara forces storm Gbagbo bunker
Wed, Apr 6 2011
High price for a government shutdown
Wed, Apr 6 2011
small business
Is social media the elephant in the room?
GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons caused a stir when he posted a video of him killing an elephant on Twitter. It's the latest example of the inherent dangers of social media and small businesses should take heed to avoid pulling a "Parsons." Full Article
Managing elephant-sized social media blunders
The do's and don'ts of securing a domain name
5 signs you need a marketing makeover
Special report: How News Corp got lost in Myspace
Tweet
Share this
By Yinka Adegoke
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Rupert Murdoch stepped into the Grand Ballroom of San Francisco's Palace Hotel at the Web 2.0 conference in October 2007, the developers and engineers who packed the room fell into a respectful hush. It was...
Email
Print
Related News
Glenn Beck and Fox News end daily TV show
Wed, Apr 6 2011
Dish expands its scope with Blockbuster win
Wed, Apr 6 2011
S&P 500 index edges higher on light volume
Wed, Apr 6 2011
FTC, Justice Dept mull Google antitrust probe
Tue, Apr 5 2011
Nasdaq index rebalancing slashes Apple's influence
Tue, Apr 5 2011
Analysis & Opinion
How does the payrolls report come out so quickly?
Full transcript of Robert Zoellick Newsmaker
Related Topics
Technology »
Media »
iPad »
1 / 3
News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch (R) and MySpace Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe speak at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco, California, in this October 17, 2007 file photo.
Credit: Reuters/Kimberly White
By Yinka Adegoke
NEW YORK |
Thu Apr 7, 2011 11:46am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Rupert Murdoch stepped into the Grand Ballroom of San Francisco's Palace Hotel at the Web 2.0 conference in October 2007, the developers and engineers who packed the room fell into a respectful hush. It was the sort of greeting usually reserved for one of their own tech heroes, not a 76-year-old media mogul.
Sitting cross-legged on a red leather couch, Murdoch looked relaxed in an open-necked shirt. Next to him sat Chris De Wolfe, the co-founder of Myspace, the social network that News Corp's chairman had acquired for $580 million two years earlier.
De Wolfe had spent weeks trying to sell Murdoch's advisers on the conference, which he saw as a kind of digital coming out party for his boss. But those close to the News Corp chairman worried he might embarrass himself in front of the technorati. Murdoch wasn't concerned. "I'll do whatever we need to do for Myspace," he told associates.
After the conference, Murdoch and De Wolfe ambled across the road to a party hosted by Myspace inside San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. At one point, 20-odd people stood in line for a chance to speak with him. "He was like a rock star," De Wolfe later told a friend.
Today, Murdoch has clearly lost his affection for Myspace. In fact, News Corp has put the money-losing site on the block. Some believe News Corp might be willing to unload Myspace at a bargain price.
News Corp's bankers Allen & Co have been approached by nearly 20 parties, including Chinese Internet holding company Tencent; Myspace's original co-founder De Wolfe backed by Austin Ventures; and the current management led by Mike Jones, who would consider a buyout if he can raise the funds, according to people with knowledge of the various plans. News Corp has also approached Vevo, an online music video site jointly owned by Universal Music, Sony Music and Abu Dhabi Holdings, to discuss a possible joint venture.
Whatever the outcome, the nearly six-year-old marriage has become the latest example of what can happen when a traditional media company imposes its will -- and business plan -- on a start-up that has not yet reached its potential.
Interviews with executives who have worked for Myspace and News Corp underscore a stubborn cultural divide that they say exacerbated the once dominant site's problems and hastened its decline. Myspace has now been eclipsed by a rival that Murdoch once dismissed as a "communications utility" -- Facebook.
INTERNET FAILURES
Plenty of big media companies have misfired in their bids to retool for the Internet age. But few stuck their neck out on as high-profile an opportunity as Murdoch did with Myspace. It was perhaps the most closely-analyzed media coupling since the disastrous AOL-Time Warner merger in 2001.
And while the Myspace deal was relatively small for a company of News Corp's size, it nonetheless changed perceptions in crucial ways. News Corp came to be seen as a company of the future, while social media was suddenly considered a serious business opportunity.
Before Myspace, Murdoch had a checkered history in the digital arena. He pursued a rash of unsuccessful investments in the nineties -- including Internet service provider Delphi and a Web portal attempt called iGuide -- after his younger son James introduced him to the Web.
For a time following those mishaps, he seemed to shun the Internet altogether. Then in late in 2004, people close to him say, he had a change of heart.
Murdoch shifted tactics. He set aside a war chest of $2 billion and handpicked a team of young executives to look at possible ways to use the Web as a distribution platform. That team was composed of four rising stars: Ross Levinsohn, Adam Bain, Travis Katz and Michael Kirby.
They became the backbone of Fox Interactive Media. Right away, they identified several targets including business news site MarketWatch, Career Search, games network IGN and tech news site CNET. "But Myspace was the one they thought was the most intriguing with the highest risk and likely best reward," said a former News Corp insider at the time.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Next
Technology
Media
iPad
Tweet this
Share this
Link this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Thursday, 7 April 2011 Haiti's Preval to U.N.: We need bulldozers, not tanks
|
Microsoft, Toyota team up on digital auto network
|
Grammy Awards cut 31 categories in big overhaul
|
Glenn Beck to leave Fox News daily show
|
Bob Dylan gets rapturous reception at China concert
|
Country singer Chely Wright engaged to gay activist
|
Ouattara forces lay siege to Ivory Coast's Gbagbo
|
Japan tackles hydrogen build-up, radiation concerns spread
|
Rebels say Gaddafi halts oil, Libya blames Britain
|
Detained Chinese artist-activist suspected of economic crimes
|
Scientists find superbugs in Delhi drinking water
|
Greed and technology tempt insider trading culprits
|
Elpida develops new DRAM for smart phones, shares jump
|
Dish expands its scope with Blockbuster win
|
Telus to build 4G LTE network from late 2011
|
Samsung profit tumbles to near 2-year low, chips to fuel rebound
|
Hewlett-Packard sues former exec at Oracle
|
Fox's X Factor to have two hosts
|
Hangover trailer pulled over monkey sex scene
|
Nonprofit defends payment to Bristol Palin
|
Miserly duck tops list of richest fictional characters
|
Gulf Arabs work on plan for Yemen's Saleh to go
|
Residents shelter from mortars in Libya's Misrata
|
Israel detains 100 women in murder investigation
|
Brazil gunman kills 12 in Rio school massacre
|
Fighting flares in Gaza, shattering lull
|
Fukushima plant workers evacuated after quake: operator
|
Japanese authorities order evacuation on tsunami fear
|
Special report: How News Corp got lost in Myspace
|
Smartphones surging, Nokia to tumble: analysts
|
Cameraphone sales seen topping 1 billion in 2011
|
Cisco CEO vows to double-down on video
|
Moody's cuts Nokia on weak market position
|
Bob Dylan gets rapturous reception at China concert
|
UK minister says 2 billion to watch royal wedding
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights