Acquisitions

Rupert Murdock's media conglomerate News Corp. has finally managed, after 3 months, to purchase Dow Jones in a deal valued at $5.6 billion. It appears Murdoch is planning to a lot of changes and new investments in the newspaper and the other Dow Jones enterprises Magician with the arts of public relations, Murdoch will be ready to roll immediately with some bold steps ... It is strange though that a spokes person from the Bancroft family refused to confirm this news and said this sort of conclusions are a little premature. Taking over Dow Jones gives Murdoch the support of financial information he needs before launching a new TV channel dedicated to business- release which is scheduled for this year's last trimester. Murdoch's company, News Corp. had an income of over $26.73 billion last year, while Dow Jones income in 2006 was $1.78 billion. The negative stock evolution of Dow Jones in July negatively influenced the Japanese stock market, Nikkei going down with more than 2,4%. Some voices said it was the worst crisis the American economy suffered this year but the American economy is very strong and well balanced even if investors show precaution on the financial market and it's going to take a lot more than this to shake it badly. Let's all be happy for Rupert Murdoch because his 3 month wrangling is finally over and let's wait to see if the changes he's planning will have a positive impact on the Wall Street Journal.

by Ana Maria Ciobanu for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

The Dow Jones, publisher of financial publication legends like The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, is about to be acquired by Rupert Murdoch. The name might sound familiar as he is the proud and rich owner of News Corp. so the recent purchase will place the Dow Jones publications alongside other important brand names like 20th Century Fox or Daily Telegraph. This may also be the beginning of a long series of changes for the newly purchased newspapers, as Murdoch is renowned for influencing the content of articles; still his new employees' award-winning writing should be a big enough incentive for him to let them the job they know best. The media mogul intends for the Wall Street Journal to contain more general news and become more popular in Europe and Asia; globalization is coming to media channels and as usual, it brings its own kind of change. Antitrust investigations, a frequent problem with any type of big corporations, will not disturb Murdoch and his crew, as studies shows that his TV stations and newspapers don't act on the same local markets. Still, the transaction will be supervised by several commissions and will need the approval of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. News Corp. was established in the US in 1980 and bought half of 20th Century Fox the next year. It established the Fox network which has been criticized for not having impartial news, so fears of Murdoch meddling with his journalists' work are not unfounded. Hopefully he will understand the importance of keeping brands like WSJ true to their readers, otherwise the future of good journalism is in great danger.

related story: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/91b3bc28-4062-11dc-9d0c-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html

by Corina Ciubotaru for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

Now that Rupert Murdoch succeeded in taking over the Walt Street Journal, it is considered to be a threat to Britain's business news sources, the Financial Times. The newspaper will now face a great competition from Murdoch's newest acquisition, in Asia and Europe. They want to explore TV deals to win or survive in the "business". According to Pearson's chief executive, Dame Marjorie Scardino, the FT has been in talks with a number of potential broadcasting partners. "We are still talking to CNBC and others about whether they might be a good channel for us," she said. "We have kind of had a talk with everybody. We got very involved with CNBC because they are trying to beef up their business news just as we are trying to find new ways to deliver business news." She is very confident that the Financial Times will be able to compete with The Wall Street Journal, considering that the British newspaper is a worthy competitor. CNBC has an agreement with the Walt Street Journal to use it's journalist on air, but Murdoch owns his financial news cable channel, Fox Business, and analysts think he will withdraw from the deal, to use the reports for his own channel. That leaves open space for Financial Times, analysts considering this as being the obvious option. "If there's one body that might be very much looking into the implications of this deal, it's CNBC," said Richard Hunter, head of U.K. equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

related story: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/01/business/EU-GEN-Britain-FT-vs.-WSJ.php?page=1

by Delia Cruceru for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

Whenever a big corporation buys a company or brand, the newspapers make a terrible fuss, like it is the deal of the year. It is no surprise then if for the sale of Dow Jones & Co. to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. the New York Times, New York Daily News and The Wall Street Journal offered Page One coverage. The only thing that raises questions is why the Post, Murdoch's only U.S. daily, would write about the deal only at the business column. Due to the fact that they represent one of the contractors, they should have advertised it even more. The main reason in my opinion is that the deal wasn't as important as everyone else tried to make it and the fact that Dow Jones & Co will be folded into the global reach of News Corp, according to Paul Tharp and Peter Lauria, the authors of the Post article. Once the new acquisition will be incorporated, there is no other reason to advertise it and then it would have been like they show off if they make a big fuss over the entire deal. However, when the secrecy is too on the open, it must be something going that the Post owners don't want to reveal. Until someone decides to go public on the secrets of the contract and its terms, all we will have is the supposition and a big ability to create theories of what lies behind the curtains. Stay connected and click some more, who knows when you will see a breaking news about everything. Enjoy!

related story: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003619358

by Claudia Sonea for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

Now that Rupert Murdoch has finally managed to acquire Dow Jones for $5.6 billion we should expect very interesting things to happen. Or at least some things should happen... How will the Wall Street Journal change and most importantly how will it adapt to the media and entertainment empire, News Corp? I don't think we can expect a more entertaining influential chronicler of the American economy though. At least I hope not. We should think about this deal in terms of great advantages for the journal. It will have access to News Corp's huge global operations and this will only make the Wall Street Journal more successful and more effective globally. To expand in Europe and Asia the journal will have to reach out to News Corp's pockets. I wouldn't want to see some sort of malicious association between MySpace and WSJ though. I know MySpace is extremely powerful globally but...thinking of it having something to do with a respectable journal makes me nausea. They could use some of News Corp's money to improve their European Web site. It isn't very attractive when you look at the main page and you see big red letters asking you to subscribe...it doesn't look serious. It just looks like "Give us your money". No matter the quality of a publication it's not a very good image tool to start your relationship with your readers(then customers...) by talking about money from the beginning.

by Ana Maria Ciobanu for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

I should pay attention to my advices more often. I gave some more clicks and found out news about the sale of Dow Jones & Co to Murdoch's News corp. After facing strong opposition from the Bancroft family that owned for generations Dow Jones, the deal was finally sealed and made public Wednesday morning (rumor has it that it was around 5 billion dollars). The purpose of Murdoch was to expand the already massive global media and entertainment empire by acquiring one of the great trophies of US journalism. The Bancroft family was divided by the whole deal. Some members have resigned before it was completed. They feared that the quality and integrity of the newspaper will suffer. Although it was believed that Bancroft will not sell after the market established his price of $60 per share they gave a favorable answer to the industry mogul. Murdoch intentions are to invest in the new acquisition and expand its domestic readership (the business and power elite) by buying two more US national newspapers, The New York Times and Gannett Co's USA Today. Also Wall Street Journal will be an opponent against other publication like Pearson PLC's Financial Times, by expanding its publication overseas. Murdoch hopes Dow Jones' news resources and brand name will help to start and promote a business-themed cable news channel he plans to release. After assuring the employees union that he will not interfere in the paper's newsroom, the new owner made a five-member board with members from News Corp. and Dow Jones with the task to hire and fire senior editorial officials. So all the doubts about why the Post hasn't made a big fuss over the deal are clarified because the situation is already unsteady and there is no time to brag. Nice to know that clicking is getting you somewhere, down to the bottom of the truth. Enjoy!

related story: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International__Business/Murdoch_seals_Rs_5_bn_WSJ_deal/articleshow/2249449.cms

by Claudia Sonea for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models