Andrew Watson

News Corp Buys MySpace

Posted on 20. Jul, 2005 by Andrew Watson in General Business

News Corp, the company run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has made one of its first major internet purchases.  

It has bought Intermix Media, owner of Myspace.com, the fifth most-viewed internet domain in the US and owner of other sites for $580m (£332.85m). Last week the company set up a new internet unit. Mr Murdoch has said that newspapers have been slow to respond to competition from the internet. Recent years have seen a downturn in traditional advertising markets, and this purchase will be significant in years to come as ‘old school’ TV, Cable, Telecoms and Newspaper companies look to buy that internet prescence that many are missing. Mr Murdoch’s reasoning for the purchase of MySpace of, “the networking site will drive traffic to his Fox TV sites” illustrates this point. 

Advertising advantage

“With a significant amount of advertising dollars moving from traditional outlets to online, News Corp, like most media companies, is looking to boost its internet assets,”. The US market for internet advertising is growing at 15% in 2005, according to media buyers Universal McCann.

Myspace.com users connect to the site for dating, making friends, professional networking and sharing interests.