• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 11, 2010

Owen Van Natta is out as CEO of MySpace, and has been replaced by Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, the executives who were brought in by News Corp. in April 2009 to turn help turn the once dominant social network around. Jones and Hirschhorn have been named co-presidents, and will report directly to News Corp. Digital Media Chairman-CEO Jon Miller.

"Owen took on an incredible challenge in working to refocus and revitalize MySpace, and the business has shown very positive signs recently as a result of his dedicated work," Miller said in a statement, adding, however, "that we both agreed that it was best for him to step down at this time."

Jones had been COO and Hirschhorn Chief Product Officer, and Miller said they would lead MySpace into its next chapter.

During a keynote conversation at the OMMA Global conference in New York last September, Miller said perceptions about MySpace's erosion had been greatly exaggerated in the marketplace, and he noted it remained a vital platform for users, and that News Corp. has been developing plans to revitalize it by focusing on core interests such as music and entertainment content.

In this morning's statement, Miller credited Jones and Hirschhorn with bringing MySpace "closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content."

Prior to MySpace, Jones founded and operated several online businesses, including Userplane, a provider of tools for online communities such as MySpace. Userplane was acquired in 2006 by AOL, where Jones 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.

Hirschhorn had been president of Sling Media's Entertainment Group, which created consumer-driven applications and services for the Slingbox device, and was chief digital officer at MTV Networks, where he oversaw the company's digital media businesses, products and strategies.