• Reuters, Thursday, September 28, 2006 11:30 AM

MySpace, the social networking phenomenon that News Corp. purchased last year for $580 million, could be worth $15 billion in a few years' time, according to RBC Capital analyst Jordan Rohan. But note--that's in terms of the added value the News Corp. site will have created for shareholders. "$15 billion in a few years? It is possible," Rohan wrote in a research note to clients after coming away from a meeting with Fox Interactive, News Corp.'s online unit. Rohan said "media investors may not fully appreciate what has already been done with MySpace or what may lie ahead." Rohan later acknowledged he was making an "audacious claim," but justified his forecast based on MySpace's unprecedented usage (90 million-plus members), growth (hundreds of thousands of new users every week) and capacity to become a major international brand and "intellectual property distribution powerhouse." Rohan based his analysis on recent market valuations for other Internet properties, including YouTube and Facebook (each valued at around $1 billion), and Google, Inc., valued at $120 billion. MySpace is the No. 1 video site on the Web, according to traffic measurement firm comScore Media Metrix--showing 1.2 billion videos in July. Rohan said MySpace was currently sold out of video advertising inventory, whose CPMs go as high as $35-$40.

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