To be clear: we don’t mean to spread rumors or alarm anyone.  But MySpace employees might want to consider setting aside some extra money and updating their LinkedIn profiles, as one News Corp. exec hinted during an earnings call that a drastic cost-cutting action of sorts may occur.

A large round (or two) of layoffs is one possibility.  A sale or even shutdown of MySpace doesn’t seem to be out of the question, either.  News Corp. COO Chase Carey made the situation sound quite serious.

As reported by the AFP, News Corp. COO Chase Carey told investors late yesterday, "We’ve been clear that Myspace has been a problem."

Then Carey continued, "The current losses are not acceptable or sustainable.  Our current management did not create these losses but they know we have to address them."

Finally, in terms of setting a timeframe for whatever move News Corp. will make, the COO hinted, "I think it is something we look to judge in quarters, not in years."

It’s hard to imagine MySpace could just go dark; to people of a certain age, it feels like the site’s been around forever, and it still has lots more users than many other networks.  At the same time, MySpace has clearly lost the numbers game to Facebook, and the site’s reputation/image has had better days.