Murdoch Plans to Make WSJ.com Free

New Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has confirmed he plans to make the Wall Street Journal's online edition free of charge once News Corp. completes its acquisition of Dow Jones. Said Murdoch, "We are studying it and we expect to make [the Journal] free, and instead of having one million [subscribers], having at least 10 million to 15 million in every corner of the earth, keeping up-to-date minute by minute with all business and economic news from around the world." Murdoch believes eliminating the $100 a year it currently costs to read the Journal online will actually improve the Journal's profitability by luring top dollar advertisers. Media expert Jeff Jarvis believes the move is "about more than a business model and ad revenue. It is a shot across the bow of the New York Times," with hopes of stealing many of the Times' regular readers. In the third quarter, wsj.com grew its number of paid subscribers to 989,000, a Y/Y increase of 25.5%. News Corp.'s buyout of Dow Jones is expected to close in December, pending shareholder approval.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch
Commentary: Murdoch: WSJ.com to Become Free, Ad-Based Site • Free WSJ: Watch Out, New York Times • How Will a Free WSJ Online Affect Other Financial Sites?
Stocks to watch: NWS, DJ. Competitors: NYT, WPO
Earnings call transcript: News Corporation F1Q08 (Qtr End 9/30/07)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.