Murdoch: WSJ.com Expected to Be Free

Tuesday November 13, 10:16 am ET  
Anticipating Big Ad Revenue, Murdoch Says He Expects to Drop Subscription Fees Wsj.com

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said Tuesday he intends to make access to The Wall Street Journal's Web site free, trading subscription fees for anticipated ad revenue.
"We are studying it and we expect to make that free, and instead of having one million (subscribers), having at least 10 million-15 million in every corner of the earth," Murdoch said.

News Corp. has signed an agreement to acquire Dow Jones & Co., and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. A special shareholders meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13 in New York.

Murdoch said he believes that a free model, with increased readership for wsj.com, will attract "large numbers" of big-spending advertisers.

The Web site, one of the few news sites globally to successfully introduce a subscription model, currently has around 1 million subscribers, which generates about $50 million in user fees.

Murdoch, speaking to shareholders in Adelaide, where he started his company from one newspaper that he inherited from his father, said that the company in the October-December quarter is performing ahead of full-year guidance, and that U.S. advertising demand has held up well despite problems in the U.S. credit market.

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