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MySpace’s financials get worse as News Corp’s papers improve

News Corp’s fortunes have improved in traditional media but losses have got worse in its digital division, the company said today.

Lower advertising revenues at MySpace were one of the only downsides for a mainly positive market update from the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company, which owns News Ltd in Australia.  

The company issued guidance saying that income for the three months ending in September was US$1.148bn, up from 1.062bn in the same quarter last year.

News Corp’s publishing interests jumped from $118m to $178m. The company said: “The newspaper businesses achieved an average 13% increase in advertising revenue with gains across all geographies, and benefited from lower newsprint and distribution costs in the U.K.”

TV and cable network programming was also on the up.

The company’s digital media group is listed in its reporting as “other”. It said: “The Other segment reported a first quarter operating loss of $156 million, $30 million greater than the prior year. This decline was primarily due to lower contributions from the Digital Media Group, principally stemming from lower search and advertising revenues at MySpace. These declines were partially offset by improved operating results at our international outdoor business.”

Last week, MySpace revealed details of its relaunch which sees it attempt to reposition itself as primarily an entertainment site rather than social network.

9.50am update: AFP is reporting that News Corp’s chief operating officer Chase Carey hinted that MySpace is running out of time. During a conference call, he said: “We’ve been clear that Myspace is a problem. The current losses are not acceptable or sustainable. Our traffic numbers are not going in the right direction.”

“We need to make real headway in the coming quarters.”

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