News Corp’s (NASDAQ:NWSA) MySpace has named a former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. [MGMYR.UL] consultant Mark Rosenbaum as its chief financial officer, a new position for the online social network.

He was chief executive at SmartJog SA, a venture capital-backed French Internet startup, and senior vice president of international free and basic TV distribution and U.S. Networks for News Corp’s Twentieth Century Fox, MySpace said. Before that, he worked at Walt Disney Co (DIS.N).

Rosenbaum will report to MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta and will oversee all finance and accounting operations.

Last week, MySpace selected Maghen at CTO. Maghen previously served as CTO for MySpace Music. He has also served as CTO for Yahoo Entertainment and MTV Networks.

MySpace is a division of News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Interactive, which is based in Beverly Hills. News Corp agreed in 2005 to buy MySpace, at the time the hottest online social network.

“Having led companies at every stage of their development, Mark understands both startup culture and mature businesses, and is well suited to guide MySpace’s financial organization through its next phase of growth. We’re thrilled to add someone with his pedigree and experience to the team,” Van Natta said in a statement.

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Viacom Inc reported a steep fall in quarterly earnings, hit by poor advertising revenue and a dropoff in sales of its “Rock Band” video game.

The owner of MTV Networks and Paramount film studios reported second quarter profit of $277 million, or 46 cents a share, down from $406 million, or 64 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding 3 cents a share in severance charges, adjusted earnings per share were 49 cents.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2009 totaled $3.30 billion, a 14% decline from $3.86 billion in the second quarter of 2008. This decrease reflects lower revenues in both the Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment segments as weak economic conditions continued to impact certain business sectors.

Operating income declined 26% to $586 million primarily as a result of lower year-over-year revenues, which more than offset a $352 million net reduction in expenses in the quarter. Excluding the impact of Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment severance charges, adjusted operating income decreased 22% to $619 million. Reported net earnings attributable to Viacom declined 32% versus a year ago to $277 million, or 27% on an adjusted basis. Excluding $0.03 in severance charges, adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.49, a 23% decline versus the second quarter of 2008. The adjustments are detailed in the Supplemental Disclosures at the end of this release.

Sumner M. Redstone, Executive Chairman of Viacom, said, “As the leading pure-play content company, Viacom has the right portfolio of assets and the right vision to manage through this challenging climate while we continue to position ourselves for future growth.”

Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, said, “While the global economy continued to be a challenge in the second quarter, the diversity of our revenue streams, sequential improvement in our domestic advertising sales, our generation of cash and our operational discipline all helped to temper the short-term impact. As we look to a longer-term recovery, we continue to manage costs aggressively and make changes in the business that will better position Viacom for growth. Importantly, our efforts to reinvigorate our cable networks’ creative machine are generating positive results, with ratings trends improving across our key networks and record-breaking results for several of our tentpole events, including the MTV Movie Awards and BET Awards ‘09.”

Debt

At June 30, 2009, total debt outstanding, including capital lease obligations, decreased to $7.37 billion, compared with $8.00 billion at December 31, 2008. The Company’s cash balances decreased to $250 million at June 30, 2009 compared with $792 million at December 31, 2008.

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