ITV bought Friends Reunited, which was launched by husband and wife Steve and Julie Pankhurst in July 2000, for £120m in December 2005. At the time of the purchase, it had 12m users, but its popularity has subsequently waned in the face of fierce competition from sites with more sophisticated offerings.
Friends Reunited claims to have 21m registered members across its brands, which include genealogy site Genes Reunited - less than half Facebook's membership.
Rupert Howell, ITV's managing director of brand and commercial, is overseeing the plans. An ITV spokeswoman said a name change was 'not imminent' and was unlikely to include the addition of the ITV moniker.
The broadcaster is also plotting to ditch Friends Reunited's subscription model and make it advertiser-funded to fit ITV's remit as a provider of free entertainment.
Friends Reunited was the 14th-most-visited social networking site with a 0.53% share of UK visits last month; Facebook had a 22.12% share, according to Hitwise.
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