News Corp. digital exec Miller: MySpace’s dramatic October overhaul may turn some people off

Exec: MySpace redesign may lose users initially

LOS ANGELES — The MySpace redesign set to launch in mid-October may be so jarring that the social networking site could lose members at first.

That’s according to Jon Miller, the chief digital officer of MySpace parent company News Corp.

Miller says the overhaul marks a “full swing of the bat.” He was speaking Tuesday at a conference hosted by entertainment and media news website TheWrap.

He said, “I can’t see how it doesn’t shed some people initially.”

News Corp. has been struggling to turn around the site, which has lost ground to Facebook and Twitter. In the most recent quarter, the segment responsible for MySpace lost $174 million, mostly due to lower search and advertising revenue.

MySpace already revamped its home page in August to lay groundwork for the fall overhaul.