NEW YORK - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp named former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta as chief executive of the MySpace online social network on Friday, replacing co-founder Chris DeWolfe.

News Corp has been trying to revive MySpace as its revenue growth has slowed and as Facebook has surpassed MySpace in the number of worldwide users.

Van Natta, former chief operating officer at Facebook, will be based in Los Angeles and report to Jonathan Miller, News Corp's chief digital officer, News Corp said in a statement. His appointment is effective immediately, it added.

He now is chief executive at Playlist Inc, an online music company. Previously, he was vice president of worldwide business and corporate development at online bookstore and retailer Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

Van Natta, 39, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. DeWolfe, who was swept aside as Murdoch shakes up News Corp's digital operations and other parts of his company, was not available for comment, a MySpace spokeswoman said.

News Corp shares rose 23 cents to $7.90 on the Nasdaq stock market. (Reporting by Robert MacMillan; Editing by Andre Grenon)

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