Rupert Murdoch has made the commitment to topple CNBC as the leading business TV channel in the U.S. It's one of the reasons he made the bid for Dow Jones (DJ).
With the announcement on Wednesday that the new business TV channel will launch on Oct. 15, Murdoch sent a clear message to the Dow Jones board and Bancroft family that with or without them, he's going forward. As a matter of fact, pretty soon he'll probably take charge and give them a time frame to answer yes or no to his offer. It's closing in on the period of time he said he would wait for an answer.
While the Wall Street Journal has been a mainstay of the business world for a long time, it has lost a lot of its luster. When you start calling a newspaper "venerable," you know it's been on a decline. Any business that's growing strongly wouldn't use the term venerable to describe itself.
To me, the value of the Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones properties is the immediate access to cotent and the existence of online financial properties that could then be leveraged across the News Corp. (NWS-A) platforms. In other words, it would give them a quicker start. Otherwise they'll have to build content of their own, or start to look for other business content properties, which will take time.
The announcement of a launch date says Murdoch is willing to take that time if he has to. He's putting everyone on notice that it's going forward. For Murdoch, the key was getting at least 30 million subscribers before he would officially launch. He has that now through deals with the three of the four largest cable companies, and satellite TV provider DirecTV (DTV). There's nothing else to wait for to get it going.
I don't think this is any type of negotiating tactic as far as it connects to the business channel, although it could be a final warning to make a decision. Again, Murdoch doesn't need Dow Jones, but it would help him make inroads much quicker; both nationally and internationally. He's already made the decision he's going on.
The one other interesting factor in successfully purchasing Dow Jones is its deal with CNBC, which provides a lot of the news that CNBC puts out. That could be derailed by a buyout, even though the deal with the news service runs through 2012. It could help News Corp.'s business channel compete quicker again.
Considering all this, the major advantage of acquiring Dow Jones as it relates to the new business channel, is connected to getting the new initiative a lot of traction that will otherwise take a longer time to achieve. Either way, Murdoch has thrown down the gauntlet and let it be known the channel will go forward no matter how long it takes. I believe he means it.
Related Coverage:
Ron Burkle, Brad Greenspan Exploring Purchasing Dow Jones & Co. Together
Rupert Murdoch Bid for Dow Jones Already Saving Them Jobs
Dow Jones says Story about Completed Deal with Murdoch False
Wall Street Journal Editor Supports Dow Jones, News Corp. Agreement
New York Times Article says if Murdoch buys Wall Street Journal, Dark Day for American Democracy
What the Real Battle over Dow Jones is About
Rupert Murdoch Retains Power to Hire and Fire at Wall Street Journal
Dow Jones, News Corp. Come to Editorial Board Agreement
Dow Jones Deal Coming Closer to a Conclusion
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» Here we go again: Another Bancroft Panics Over Dow Jones Being Bought by Rupert Murdoch from ManagersRealm
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story In what's getting to be almost a circus, another Bancroft member, Christopher Bancroft, has reportedly ran to General Electric (GE), hedge funds and private equity firms in an effort to keep Rupert Mu... [Read More]
Tracked on: July 15, 2007 11:12 PM | Permalink to Trackback