MySpace has officially announced the appointment of entrepreneur and former AOL exec Mike Jones as COO, as BoomTown reported earlier today.

But the social-networking site also named former Sling Media top exec Jason Hirschhorn as chief product officer in what has become a series of senior management moves at MySpace.

The paidContent Web site first reported on the Hirschhorn appointment earlier this morning.

Besides Sling, which he recently left in a mass departure of top execs, Hirschhorn was also the top digital exec at MTV Networks and was part of the team at Viacom (VIA) that unsuccessfully tried to buy MySpace many years ago.

Both Hirschhorn and Jones, who are already based in Los Angeles, will report to newly named CEO Owen Van Natta, the former COO of Facebook, who replaced MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe last week.

Recently installed News Corp. (NWS) digital head Jon Miller has put in place a trio of well-known Internet execs at the top of MySpace, which has seen its buzz and momentum wane in the face of the huge growth at Facebook.

MySpace’s motto is “A Place for Friends.” But it might very well now be: A place for wandering digital execs.

And expect more top execs to wander away from MySpace too. Once the trio get their bearings, many sources indicate that News Corp., the owner of MySpace, has given Van Natta and his key execs free rein to remake the unit.

There is a lot to fix at the entertainment-, music- and media-heavy site, from a renegotiation with Google (GOOG) over its advertising search deal to goosing traffic to innovating its look and feel.

In addition, MySpace is likely to forge closer tech ties with Silicon Valley, where Facebook is based.

News Corp. already noted that it was in talks with MySpace co-founder and President Tom Anderson about a new role in the company. Also likely to get a major look-see are top execs like sales head Jeff Berman and CTO Aber Whitcomb, as well as a number of others.

To begin, though, the trio will meet the staff of MySpace, more than 1,000 people, in an all-hands event to be held outside of its building in Beverly Hills, Calif., at about 3:30 p.m. today.

Sources tell me there is no space big enough at the HQ to accommodate them, so the courtyard of the building will be used.

BoomTown is in Los Angeles today, by coincidence, but will not be crashing the event, so send interesting tidbits my way.

Here is the full release:

Los Angeles, CA, April 27, 2009–News Corporation today announced an expansion of MySpace’s management team with two key new hires. Michael Jones has been named Chief Operating Officer and Jason Hirschhorn has been named Chief Product Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Jones and Mr. Hirschhorn will be based in Los Angeles and report to MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta.

Jones has founded and operated several online businesses, including Userplane, a leading provider of tools for online communities such as MySpace. Userplane was acquired in 2006 by AOL, where Jones subsequently served as a senior vice president and focused on social media monetization and also pioneered the distribution of widgets and other technology to Web publishers. Most recently, he was the founder and CEO of Tsavo Media, an online content and search network developing next-generation publishing platforms and technology services.

Hirschhorn has led both start-up and established online businesses. Most recently, he was president of Sling Media, Inc.’s Entertainment Group, which created consumer-driven applications and services for the Slingbox device. Previously, he was chief digital officer at MTV Networks, where he oversaw the company’s digital media businesses, products and strategies. Hirschhorn joined MTV Networks following the acquisition of his company, Mischief New Media, which provided interactive services to the entertainment industry.

“Michael’s operational insight and knowledge of the social media market will prove to be a valuable asset as we set out to evolve the MySpace product offering,” said Jon Miller, chief digital officer, News Corporation. “From a product perspective, there’s no better choice than Jason, who is highly regarded as an incredibly talented innovator, media executive and leader, all qualities I know will greatly benefit our team and our users.”

“We were attracted to Michael’s unique background in building and operating successful businesses that fall directly in our sweet spot, and I look forward to leveraging his skill set as we further refine and shape the MySpace vision,” said Mr. Van Natta. “Jason’s reputation for creating compelling consumer experiences that leverage the intersection of technology, design and media is unmatched and we’re excited to have him join us.”

“I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to build upon the successes of the company’s founders and am eager to work with Owen and Jon and the rest of the incredible management team at MySpace as we enter this exciting new phase in the company’s already revered history,” said Mr. Jones. Mr. Hirschhorn continued, “MySpace is one of the most alluring innovations of our time and I am honored to collaborate with Tom Anderson and the rest of the MySpace team to take what is already a stellar product into its next evolution.”

(New Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

New MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta starts his first day on the job at MySpace bright and early this morning, coming to its Beverly Hills HQ as he takes over for co-founder and former CEO Chris DeWolfe.

Along with him will be a new COO, former AOL exec Mike Jones, whose appointment will be announced this morning, sources said.

The pair will meet with MySpace staff today at 3:30 p.m. PDT.

Jones was the founder of Userplane, a social-networking application maker that was bought by then-AOL head Jon Miller in 2006.

Miller is now the digital chief at News Corp. (NWS), which owns MySpace.

(News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

Jones left the Time Warner (TWX) unit last year to start Tsavo, a digital content start-up.

Van Natta, who was running the Project Playlist start-up until his appointment, has stronger Silicon Valley ties. For now, he will commute to MySpace from Northern California, where his family lives.

Van Natta was a former top-ranking Facebook exec, still holding a small stake in the MySpace rival, and has also worked at Amazon (AMZN).

But, with a strong product and technology background, the Los Angeles-based Jones is an excellent choice to be a partner to Van Natta–who was hired by Miller last week in a flurry of change at the social-networking site.

Their challenges include: Reinvigorating the MySpace brand, upgrading its technology, adding more innovation to its feature set, continuing to grow its nascent advertising business and dealing with the tough renegotiation of its lucrative search and advertising deal with Google (GOOG).

They must also play deft diplomats at MySpace, where many remain loyal to DeWolfe and to co-founder Tom Anderson. Anderson is in talks to step down as president for an unspecified new role in the company. He currently remains president.

See a chat I had with Jones in the video below that I did at a gathering of Beta South, a networking organization for digital start-ups in the Los Angeles area, last year. (Jones is at the start, talking about the differences between Silicon Valley and Southern California.)

And if you want to read an informative and solidly reported piece on Van Natta–and are perplexed as BoomTown is by factually-challenged and agenda-stuffed diatribes of some about him–try out this one in The Wall Street Journal today.

Here is Jones in my video:

News Corp. will officially announce its shaken-but-not-stirred digital lineup this morning, as former AOL head Jon Miller takes over as the media giant’s new chief digital officer.

And Peter Levinsohn–his predecessor at Fox Interactive Media, which Miller will inherit in a new form, along with a larger portfolio, all based in New York–will also officially take up his new post as the key digital exec at News Corp.’s film and television studios in California.

In the press release, the company said Miller “will be charged with driving digital strategy across News Corp. businesses.”

In a statement, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch said: “Our focus moving forward is twofold: to enable our digital businesses to flourish as individual entities and to bolster the digital strategies of our core media properties by treating them as central to, and not separate from, the enterprise.”

The release went on to say that Miller will have sway over News Corp.’s standalone digital businesses, including MySpace, IGN Entertainment, Photobucket, as well as Jamba and the Hulu joint venture with NBC Universal, and will “collaborate with operational heads and digital executives through all lines of business around the globe to develop and refine digital efforts.”

Last Friday, BoomTown and others outlined the moves, part of Murdoch’s efforts to make significant changes related to how the company’s digital efforts are managed.

The shifts come in the wake of the previously announced upcoming departure of COO Peter Chernin, who was in charge of digital efforts at News Corp.

Miller (pictured here), whose noncompete agreement with Time Warner (TWX) from his AOL stint just ran out, will report directly to Murdoch. Besides the chief digital officer title, he will also be chairman and CEO of the newly created News Digital Media group.

Levinsohn, a longtime News Corp. exec, is also getting a significant new job as president of new media and digital distribution at the Fox studios, coordinating delivery of its film and television assets on all mobile and digital platforms.

It will be his task to create sustainable advertising and other business models in this fast-moving arena, as well as create innovative new content for those platforms.

In his new post, Levinsohn (pictured here) will report to Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, co-chairmen and CEOs of Fox Filmed Entertainment.

News Corp. said that Levinsohn will oversee “Fox Filmed Entertainment’s entire content portfolio across all digital distribution channels, including Hulu and third party platforms in the broadband, mobile and gaming markets. He will direct all policy decisions regarding new usage and business models, content protection, and will further develop the studio’s original and derivative content businesses by working with creative talent, distributors and brands to bring short and long-form digital entertainment to audiences worldwide.”

It’s definitely a complex, challenging job–although a big opportunity–for the affable Levinsohn, who never sought the limelight as some who worked for him have, most especially MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe.

Both previous FIM heads, Ross Levinsohn and Peter Levinsohn, many sources said, had to deal with DeWolfe’s own sphere of influence within News Corp. (NWS), especially his close ties to Murdoch. Both FIM and MySpace are located in Beverly Hills, Calif.

As I previously wrote, relations between DeWolfe and both those execs could be described, at best, as tense.

Miller now inherits that relationship at the social-networking site. And he must also navigate the complexities of the global media giant, as well as figure out ongoing relationships with digital companies, such as Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and his former company, Time Warner (TWX) unit AOL.

The same, of course, goes for Levinsohn.

And, especially with the weak economy, which often slows innovation at large companies, it is likely the pair will end up having to work together closely if News Corp. is to have a cohesive and successful digital strategy under the new set-up going forward.

(News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

Here’s the press release, after the jump:

News Corporation Establishes Digital Leadership Roles

Jonathan Miller named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Media Group and Chief Digital Officer for News Corporation

Peter Levinsohn named President New Media and Digital Distribution, Fox Filmed Entertainment

New York, NY April 1, 2009–News Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch today announced the company has named former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Media Group and Chief Digital Officer for News Corporation. Based in New York and reporting directly to Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Miller, 52, will be charged with driving digital strategy across News Corp. businesses.

In this newly created role, Mr. Miller will direct News Corp.’s stand-alone digital businesses, including MySpace, IGN Entertainment, Photobucket, as well as Jamba and the Hulu joint venture with NBC Universal. He will also collaborate with operational heads and digital executives through all lines of business around the globe to develop and refine digital efforts.

“Our focus moving forward is twofold: to enable our digital businesses to flourish as individual entities and to bolster the digital strategies of our core media properties by treating them as central to, and not separate from, the enterprise,” Mr. Murdoch said. “With his strong background in media and entertainment, coupled with a deep understanding of the digital business, Jon Miller is–hands down–the best equipped executive to provide the vision, oversight and operational experience to truly transform our offerings.”

“’I'm fortunate to join the world’s most dynamic media company at a time when digital opportunities are shaping our business in new and exciting ways,” said Miller. “News Corporation has shown a unique ability to excel globally in all forms of media and I look forward to working with its leadership as we position the company for continued growth and innovation.”

Peter Levinsohn has been named to the new position of President New Media and Digital Distribution, Fox Filmed Entertainment, the unit that controls the company’s film and television content worldwide. He will report directly to Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, chairmen and CEOs of Fox Filmed Entertainment.

Levinsohn will oversee Fox Filmed Entertainment’s entire content portfolio across all digital distribution channels, including Hulu and third party platforms in the broadband, mobile and gaming markets. He will direct all policy decisions regarding new usage and business models, content protection, and will further develop the studio’s original and derivative content businesses by working with creative talent, distributors and brands to bring short and long-form digital entertainment to audiences worldwide.

Mr. Murdoch said, “Peter Levinsohn did an extraordinary job running Fox Interactive Media, having steered MySpace’s trajectory to the world’s leading social media portal. He is the perfect executive to place at the heart of our global content business as we look to further exploit our movie and television properties over new and yet to be discovered platforms.”

“As one of the leading suppliers of content worldwide, we’ve made huge strides in giving consumers an array of choice when it comes to consuming digital content,” said Levinsohn. “I look forward to working with Jim and Tom and their teams to further our commitment to building distribution models that are both sustainable and durable over the long term.”

“With a newly minted portfolio that combines the absolute best in film and television entertainment, I’m thrilled to have Peter return to the studio to lead this very important initiative as we deepen our commitment to propel our digital businesses forward,” said Jim Gianopulos, co-chairman Fox Filmed Entertainment. Tom Rothman, co-chairman Fox Filmed Entertainment, said, “We look forward to leveraging Peter’s deep knowledge of emerging markets as we bolster our strategies to bring viewers new content built explicitly for these expanding platforms.”

Levinsohn, a 20-year News Corp. veteran, returns to the studio after running Fox Interactive Media, where he oversaw MySpace, IGN, Photobucket and FoxSports.com, among other web properties. Prior to Fox Interactive Media, Levinsohn held a number of senior positions at the company, including president of Fox Digital Media, and president of Worldwide Pay Television and Video on Demand for Fox Filmed Entertainment.

Mr. Miller was most recently a founding partner of Velocity Interactive Group, a digital media and communications investment firm. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Chairman and CEO of AOL, where he restructured the company’s core business lines, focusing on online advertising. Through his leadership, AOL delivered record annual profit growth of 21 percent and increased online advertising growth, the centerpiece of its new business model, by 46 percent. Previously, Miller was CEO and President of USA Information and Services, now IACI and Expedia (the company split in two in 2005), where he helped build industry-leading positions in such areas as online travel, ticketing, and electronic retailing.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Miller spent several years as Managing Director of Nickelodeon International, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks. He also served as the Chief Executive of Paramount’s first branded international channel, launching the Paramount Comedy Channel in London. He spent five years at NBA Entertainment where, as Vice President of Programming, he expanded the NBA’s TV production business as well as its overall brand image.

BoomTown has confirmed a report by Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily that former AOL head Jon Miller is set to take over as digital head at News Corp., replacing Peter Levinsohn.

The move was also mentioned in a blog post by Miller’s partner in an investment company, Ross Levinsohn, who once held a smaller version of the job Miller is taking.

But Miller has not actually signed up for the job officially, since he is still under a noncompete agreement with Time Warner from his AOL stint. It runs out in three days, in fact.

As some might recall, Miller was barred from taking a board seat at Yahoo last year by Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes.

But sources said News Corp. is likely to announce Miller as head by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Once he does sign, which seems likely, Miller will become News Corp.’s chief digital officer, reporting directly to the media giant’s head, Rupert Murdoch. Based in New York, he will also be chairman and CEO of the newly created News Digital Media group.

Sources noted that this is a a different and larger platform for Miller, bigger than just the Fox Interactive Media job that Levinsohn held. It will go across all properties held by News Corp. across the globe.

“The idea is to mainstream the digital initiatives, which have been all over the company,” said one source close to the situation.

Levinsohn will move to another job within News Corp. (NWS) at the film and television studios, to coordinate delivery of its assets on mobile and digital platforms, sources said. It will be his task to create sustainable business models in this fast-moving arena.

News Corp. has, in fact, been searching for a new digital head for the past several months, talking to a number of well-known Internet execs, including Joost head Mike Volpi, former AOL exec Jim Bankoff and former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta.

The decision to rejigger News Corp.’s digital assets came after the announcement that President and COO Peter Chernin was leaving his job and has largely been pushed by Murdoch.

Previously, Chernin had been in charge of digital efforts at News Corp.

The search for the position was, in fact, conducted by well-known head tech and media headhunter Jim Citrin of Spencer Stuart.

Ironically, Miller is still essentially taking a job once held by his current partner, Ross Levinsohn, at the investment fund, Velocity Interactive Group. As I noted above, Levinsohn confirmed the Miller offer from News Corp. in a blog post called “Thunderclap.”

The move is a fascinating one, and one of many in the digital arena of late among its top execs. Former Google (GOOG) exec Tim Armstrong recently took over as CEO of the Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL, for example.

Also, even though the job will cover all the the many News Corp. Web properties, even more compelling will be how Miller will deal with its largest and most prominent asset: social-networking giant MySpace.

More to the point, it will be riveting to see how he will handle managing MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe.

Both previous FIM heads, Ross Levinsohn and Peter Levinsohn, many sources said, had to deal with DeWolfe’s own sphere of influence within News Corp., especially his close ties to Murdoch. Both FIM and MySpace are located in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Relations between DeWolfe and both those execs could be described, at best, as tense.

But Miller, who is a much bigger Internet player in his own right, with a more powerful charge from Murdoch, certainly is likely to shift that balance of power.

More to come…

(News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

Under cover of darkness last night, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on the social-networking site’s blog that it would “return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.”

Oh, this is just too good to resist. Therefore, BoomTown shall not tarry in our ongoing job of busting the chops of the young Facebook leader, whose minions have actually–and I am not joking here–given him the nickname: The Wizard.

Well, the Wizard obviously had to pull back the curtain last night and show some serious mea culpa to the people, before they got out the pitchforks.

That’s due to the controversy Facebook has been embroiled in this week about changes it recently made to its Terms of Service that gave the company unusually sweeping rights over customers’ content and privacy.

While Zuckerberg had said in his first post about the issue that Facebook was not in the content-stealing business, the strong language in the ToS sent the usual suspects into a major meltdown over the possibility that the young geek had gone into full-scale evil mogul mode.

As if!

In fact, Zuckerberg has been ensconced in his Silicon Valley lair for years now, counting down until he knows precisely everything about everyone’s drunken college days!

Until D-Day then, here is my translation of his latest backtracking post:

What the Wizard wrote: Update on Terms

Today at 10:17 pm

Translation: OK, I have reached my limit of being yelled at by Sheryl and Elliot, have had my usual breakfast of Red Bull and Frosted Flakes–they’re grrreat!–and am ready to eat some major digital crow this morning.

I mean, night, which is my morning, because I actually slept through all this noise today about this whole Terms of Service “controversy.”

What the Wizard wrote: A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.

Translation: Did you know crow is delicious if you eat it with a little Bosco on top?

More to the point, I would just like to assure you that we have taken our lawyers–who idiotically rewrote our ToS to give us ownership rights to the Bible, “American Idol” and everything Bill O’Reilly utters–and sent them over to our friends at MySpace, because their owner, News Corp. (NWS), already owns two of those three [and also this site!].

What the Wizard wrote: Many of us at Facebook spent most of today discussing how best to move forward. One approach would have been to quickly amend the new terms with new language to clarify our positions further. Another approach was simply to revert to our old terms while we begin working on our next version. As we thought through this, we reached out to respected organizations to get their input.

Translation: As in: More yelling by Sheryl and Elliott and more Fedexing of lawyers to MySpace HQ in Beverly Hills.

But after we calmed down, we all decided the best course of action was to shoot ourselves in the right foot to stop the bleeding from when we shot our left foot before.

We are, of course, completely out of feet now, so if these hijinks continue, sooner or later, someone is going to lose an eye. By someone, I mean, um, me.

What the Wizard wrote: Going forward, we’ve decided to take a new approach towards developing our terms. We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now. As I said yesterday, we think that a lot of the language in our terms is overly formal and protective so we don’t plan to leave it there for long.

Translation: Facebook, of course, never had any intention of stealing content and copyright! Perish the thought! After all, that’s the job of Google (GOOG)!

By contrast, ours is to collect incredibly embarrassing photos of everyone in the United States until one of them runs for president, and then our nefarious scheme to control the world begins.

We were planning on blackmailing the world for one billllliiiion dollars then, but Microsoft kind of forked over 15 times that without any pressure.

Still, we would like to own Palo Alto, Calif., and get free parking 24/7, so there will be demands!

Until then, enjoy the sheep-throwing. Mwaahahahahahahaha! (Quick visual: I am petting my white cat right now with Ernst Stavro Blofeld-like evil glee, and am, of course, cackling.)

What the Wizard wrote: More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren’t just a document that protect our rights; it’s the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service.

Translation: Not to be completely and utterly arrogant or anything, but we just passed Pakistan, and those Brazilians better get ready to samba.

By the way, once we get to No. 1–look out, China!–we plan on decreeing that everyone in the world speak Pig Latin and that forthwith it will be flip-flop Fridays.

Also: Esyay, Iway amway anway alienway omfray anotherway anetplay.

What the Wizard wrote: Our next version will be a substantial revision from where we are now. It will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information, and it will be written clearly in language everyone can understand. Since this will be the governing document that we’ll all live by, Facebook users will have a lot of input in crafting these terms.

Translation: Ybay ethay ayway, “Otay Ervesay Anmay”? It’sway away ookbookcay.

In other words, I am sure you will make delicious contributions, after which Facebook will “invite” you to our world-wide HQ to share in a lovely meal.

Especially those Winklevii. I look forward to the twins coming by soon!

What the Wizard wrote: You have my commitment that we’ll do all of these things, but in order to do them right it will take a little bit of time. We expect to complete this in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we’ve changed the terms back to what existed before the February 4th change, which was what most people asked us for and was the recommendation of the outside experts we consulted.

Translation: To my credit, I did give in much quicker than with the Beacon ad snafu. And you thought I learned nothing during that debacle!

And, by outside experts, I mean Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer, who yells much, much louder than Sheryl or Elliot combined.

What the Wizard wrote: If you’d like to get involved in crafting our new terms, you can start posting your questions, comments and requests in the group we’ve created–Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. I’m looking forward to reading your input.

Translation: Here’s my first pass, based on the U.S. Bill of Rights, Amendment I:

Facebook shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition Faebook for a redress of grievances.*

*Exceptway, ithway ymay ompletecay iscretionday, enwhay Iway
ecideday otherwiseway.