WSJ will be central to Murdoch’s new strategy

Following the announcement that Rupert Murdoch will be splitting News Corporation in two, the Wall Street Journal is set to be re-branded as WSJ.

During an interview last week, Murdoch announced that the renamed publication will be “at the centre” of News Corporation’s new publishing arm.

Purchased for $5.7 billion back in 2007, the Wall Street Journal has 1.3 million subscribers and its re-brand suggests a willingness on the part of Murdoch to build on this platform as well as advance the Dow Jones newswire.

Brands and websites within the Wall Street Journal digital network have 56 million unique visitors per month.

Douglas McCabe, of Enders Analysis, believes that the B2B service provided by the paper, alongside the Times‘ paywall, are “creeping towards something that might work as a business model for newspapers”.

With Murdoch already having stated that “you’re not going to see any print losses tolerated anywhere”, it appears as though News Corp publications will be placed under pressure to achieve financial viability.

To read the full MediaGuardian article, click here.