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 AFTER THREE MONTHS of protracted
debates, denials and a
bickeringly persistent wooing,
the maverick media
mogul Rupert Murdoch has
finally won over the
Bancroft family to let him
own the Dow Jones group
and its crown jewel Wall
Street Journal along with
rest of their media business
for a hefty $5.6 billion.
Having bagged the deal, the question that begs an answer is what could Murdoch do to the WSJ, the 105-year-old business newspaper known for its editorial integrity? Does it fulfil his vision of lording over the global media in general, and the American media in particular? Will he be able to take on the much-revered New York Times? How much does the deal effectively leverage his overall media muscle, or for that matter, how much Dow Jones Newswire, MarketWatch, WSJ and the Barron's can help him achieve his objectives?
Considering the fact that this Australian media baron already presides over the world's third largest media house worth $58 billion which owns 28 newspapers stretching from Sydney to New York to London (but none known for its editorial integrity or content supremacy), 11 film and television production houses, six channels including the largest American channel Fox Television, 16 cable channels, three satellite companies, eight magazine companies, seven book publishing companies, and 25 other assets including MySpace and American Idol, how much can the 2.06-million circulated WSJ add muscle to his already bulging empire is doubtful. Will he walk the talk with the Bancrofts in letting the globally famous WSJ model way of journalism or will he let it go the way his rest of the titles have gone? The Bancrofts agreed to the deal only after Murdoch agreed to a legally-enforceable agreement that guarantees the integrity and independence of the Journal's way of journalism. How much this will be enforced is however doubtful as the agreement also gives freedom to Murdoch to hire and fire top editors and publishers after securing a non-veto from a nominally independent five-member committee.
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The world and the media industry are waiting with baited breath to see the next move that Murdoch would make. My telling him what he could do with WSJ is like trying to teach the pope how to read the Bible. Having said that let me make some predictions or let me cover my backside (after all I was a media planner for a brief while), or shall I say, let me do some crystal ball gazing.
What I firmly believe is that Murdoch could launch a WSJ channel, considering his huge experience in broadcasting. This looks more credible as he doesn't have a well-leveraged business channel so far, though his Fox Business Channel will be on air from October 15. But I feel that he should shelve this project or at least rename the proposed channel as WSJ TV or something like that and replicate a journal on air! More importantly, even today his dollars come from broadcasting and not newspapers—The New York Post is burning a huge $70 million hole in his pocket annually, while his channels are doing well—if Fox is the largest in the US, his Star group is doing exceedingly well in India and Asia-Pacific. And when it comes to Asia and India. He could easily make a mark in India (considering the impressive reach of the Star channels here) with a WSJ channel, as the Indian business channel space can accommodate at least one more player. Similarly, he can also bring WSJ to the Indian market take on The Economic Times not withstanding WSJ's content tie up with Mint.
Why I believe in his success is that the WSJ content is not easily surmountable, for I firmly believe in the importance of media content and branding. I also believe that Murdoch can definitely leverage the WSJ brand value with his already existing marketing and financial muscles in this country.
One thing we know about Murdoch is that he thinks big and does make bold moves. What will be his big move in India, and more importantly, when will it be? Will it be in the newspaper or magazine space? How will he leverage his existing relationship with the ABP group, and if does, how will it change the overall media scenario? We are waiting with baited breath, Mr Murdoch. Murdoch is becoming synonymous with media. |
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