MySpace CEO: Google Deal Less Than Half Our Revenue
by John Paczkowski
Posted on May 27, 2009 at 5:00 PM PT
An interesting exchange in this afternoon’s interview with Owen Van Natta, CEO of MySpace, and Jon Miller, chief digital officer of News Corp. Asked about MySpace’s $900 million deal with Google (GOOG), Van Natta said it is important, but not that important. “It’s not the majority of our revenue,” he explained, adding that the deal represents half of MySpace’s revenue. A surprising admission. Announced in August of 2006, the deal is slated to run until 2010, so it’s more than half over. What happens when it does finally end? Miller suggested that MySpace and News Corp. (NWS) may look for a broader deal. “When it comes time to negotiate,” he said, “one thing to think about is whether we could do an overall deal with Google that wraps in more News Corp. properties.”
