Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (NYSE: DJ)'s Wall Street Journal (a.k.a., Rupert's Rag, a.k.a. The Towel) occupies a unique spot in the media firmament. As I pointed out earlier in the year, it changed its format and now looks to me like a Holiday Inn bath towel. And since News Corp (NYSE: NWS) has finally won over enough Bancrofts to take control, I have officially changing this column's name from Towel Talk to Rupert's Rag, which will continue to offer a perspective on its news and views.
AP reports that Murdoch's victory is complete. As I said in today's New York Sun, I think that a sufficient portion of the Bancrofts succumbed to Murdoch because they were unable to afford the cost of the shareholder lawsuits that would have been directed their way had they turned down his $60 a share offer. If the Bancrofts had turned down the offer, the stock would have fallen back at least to the $36 it traded at before May when Murdoch announced the offer ... and the board would have been the target of lawsuits from angry shareholders. Also highlighting the Bancroft's poverty, Murdoch was able to get enough votes by offering to pick up the $30 million tab for legal and financial advice to the Bancroft trusts.
Meanwhile, everything is fine. That's because James Cramer -- host of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) CNBC's Mad Money -- is happy that Murdoch is taking over The Rag. According to the New York Times [registration required], Cramer expects Murdoch to transform The Rag into a "more relevant paper." In particular, Cramer thought Murdoch could make its daily "Heard on the Street" column more of a must-read.
"I start my day with The New York Post business section because it's very punchy, very relevant, very exciting. I am a genuine believer that you can be punchier without sacrificing quality." Evidently Cramer is not worried about the competition that CNBC will see this fall from the Fox Business Network that Murdoch plans to open on October 15.
Do you agree with Cramer that Murdoch will improve The Rag?
Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares and has no financial interest in News Corp.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-01-2007 @ 9:45AM
Sue said...
Almost ALL American business journalism and financial advisers lack information about the growing global economy and markets. They continue to push, promote and limit coverage to American companies and, thus, insulate investors.
8-01-2007 @ 10:27AM
Bob Gifford said...
Look's like another good paper will bite the
dust. Like Fox News, it will just become another
mouth piece for the Republican Party.
8-01-2007 @ 10:50AM
John Singer said...
Cramer's had this one right since February, since then the stock's up 65%. Cramer's DJ record charted: http://www.stocktagger.com/2007/07/cramer-speculates-on-higher-price-for.html ...Go figure
9-16-2007 @ 1:07PM
ALASTAIR said...
To borrow Jim Cramer's word, let us hope Rupert Murdoch is also able to make CNBC more "relevant" to business and less "relevant" to juvenile antics, cheap theatrics, and the show's tendency to simply be a platform for the same old pack of Wall Street shills. CNBC is getting stale and its stars look bored to death. When do Bill Griffith and Sue Herrera pack it in?
They ,together with former CNBC contributor, Consuelo Mack, Liz Claman, and Mark Haines, should start their own business show. Perhaps, Mr. Murdoch has plans for them at Fox. If so, what a raid on CNBC that would be. Leaving the remnants to Dylan Ratigan and Maria Bartiromo. Both of whom can never stop performing before the camera like contestants in Ted Mack's "Original Amateur Hour".