Tag archive: News Corp

Rupert Murdoch recently approved an early attempt at a settlement offer to the family of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl that was murdered in 2002. This payment stems from alleged hacking of Milly Dowler's mobile phone by representatives of the Murdoch-owned News of the World. When the public discovered the phone hacking scandal, several of the high-ranking employees at the newspaper were arrested and eventually lost their jobs after the… Read More

During a conference call today concerning the News Corp. fiscal fourth quarter earnings report, it was reported that the news giant lost $254 million on the sale of MySpace to Specific Media on June 29. This loss pushed net income for the company down by 22 percent. Murdoch purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, but watched the investment rapidly lose value as MySpace members defected to Facebook in massive numbers. Management at MySpace… Read More

Earlier today, Hulu announced intentions to launch its video streaming service in Japan by the end of 2011. Japanese users can visit hulu.jp to sign up for the service and get notified first at launch. Hulu's video service in Japan will be available on computers, mobile devices, tablets, gaming platforms and televisions. Hulu is expected to launch Hulu Plus as well for an unnamed monthly fee. Hulu did not clarify the amount of content… Read More

It's safe to say Rupert Murdoch is having a bad month. A couple developers have created free tools to help consumers stay away from websites owned by the Murdoch media empire. A Firefox add-on called MurdochAlert creates a warning when users are loading one of  100+ sites.  For instance, if a user lands on Fox News, an alert bar appears to warn the user of the “potential computer security risks of accessing Murdoch-controlled… Read More

It's no secret that online video streaming service Hulu is looking for a buyer—the company has hired investment banks to help oversee a possible sale. But while the company entertained an offer from a mystery buyer (apparently Yahoo) back in June. Now, reports are emerging that Yahoo would be willing to pay up to $2 billion for Hulu—but only if it can get a long-term exclusive lock on content available through Hulu. And the word… Read More

Hacking group LulzSec are back – and now it’s directing its attention toward Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, which form part of his News Corporation media empire. According to the Guardian, visitors to the website of the UK’s most widely read newspaper, the Sun, were redirected to a page with a report falsely claiming that the News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch had been found dead in his garden. The Sun’s website has since been taken down… Read More

After 168 years of operation, popular British tabloid News of the World will publish its last issue on Sunday, reports The Telegraph. The shut down of the world's most-read English language newspaper, caused by a cellphone hacking scandal carried out by some of the paper's staff, was announced today by James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns News of the World parent company News Corp. “This Sunday will be… Read More

It was recently announced that Justin Timberlake, who played Napster co-founder and former Facebook President Sean Parker in The Social Network, has purchased an ownership in MySpace and now has an office at the flailing company’s headquarters. While Timberlake’s music industry prestige and apparent interest in social networking will obviously lend some hype to the site, that’s usually not enough to halt a downward spiral of MySpace’s… Read More

It's not often that you hear of someone switching from Facebook to Myspace. But in a surprising instance of life imitating art (that imitates life), Justin Timberlake did just that: The actor and singer has reportedly purchased an ownership stake in MySpace, along with fellow buyer Specific Media. The former N'SNYC member, who played Facebook president and Napster co-founder Sean Parker in The Social Network, will help revamp the… Read More

A lot can happen in six years. Back in 2005, MySpace was king. The social network was crushing competitors like Friendster while Facebook was still in its infancy. The sky seemed to be the limit, and News Corp. was quick to take notice. In July of 2005 the media giant purchased MySpace for $580 million, and by August of 2006, the 100 millionth MySpace account was created. But then things began to go wrong. The once dominant social network… Read More

It is rumored that Myspace will be firing 150 of its current 400 employees Wednesday this week. More than one source within the company is saying that the cull is certain. Gawker spoke to a Myspace veteran with friends at the company who believes many are expecting and even hoping for the cuts. He said, “I think the management owes the employees severance because of the terrible management mistakes they presided over.” There is speculation that… Read More

Cable operator Time Warner and Viacom Inc. have agreed to put their lawsuits against each other on hold while they try to reach an agreement over what programming Time Warner can offer to its cable subscribers via an iPad application, according to a court filing. The companies originally sued each other back in April over Time Warner offering its cable subscribers access to Viacom programming on an iPad app. Viacom—along with Discovery and News… Read More

Web-video purveyor Hulu is debating whether to sell (itself) after an unsolicited offer to buy came knocking on their door. The possible buyer who approached Hulu LLC is currently unknown. According to the New York Times who first reported on it, the bid has stirred up the directors who are considering their options and whether they should solicit offers from larger companies and private-equity firms. Hulu stands at a pivotal position because… Read More

Mere hours after the Wall Street Journal unveiled its own version of WikiLeaks, a service called SafeHouse that allows whistleblowers to submit sensitive news to the newspaper's reporters, researchers say that the “secure” service is anything but, reports Forbes. SafeHouse invites readers to share information relevant to “fraud, abuse, pollution, insider trading, and other harms,” and says it offers them the ability… Read More

Word slipped out over the weekend that the News Corp.-owned IGN.com would be acquiring UGO.com and ultimately spinning out into a gaming-focused website operating outside of the Rupert Murdoch company's domain. That news has been officially confirmed today by IGN president Roy Bahat, in an interview with TechCrunch. Bahat describes the new development as a “Go Big moment for us,” explaining that this situation doesn't… Read More