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M&A July 31, 2007, 2:36PM EST

Dear Rupert...

(page 2 of 2)

Now for the interesting stuff. As you already know, Dow Jones' online operation is a gold mine waiting to be tapped. The Journal's 931,000 online subscribers and the 88,000 at Barrons are among the most lucrative in the country. High income, attentive readers. So why not sell more ads? Cut the subscription price—heck, kill it altogether—and offer tiers for some specialized services. Then watch those numbers climb.

But how do you boost subscriptions at the Journal, which sorely needs the boost? More spirited writing, maybe? What about some good-old fashioned promotion? The paper spends just about nothing on marketing. Goose that. Promote it on Fox News (yes, I know the Journal has a long-term deal to provide reporters to CNBC—details, details.) And all those guys who watch the NFL on Fox? Offer them cut-rate subscriptions to track their stock portfolios like they do Reggie Bush's rushing stats.

And ramp up the use of all those stock tables, tickers, and news briefs that are now digitally delivered online. Cell phones are ideal for getting news on the go, and your Fox studio is also knee-deep in cell phone filmmaking. Same for MySpace. It must reach about half the U.S. population by now. With the average age for MySpace users creeping toward 40, those people become prime candidates for stock info, news, maybe even Walt Mossberg's gadget reviews.

All Eyes on Video

Your big winner, however, will be ramping up video. O.K., so maybe your Fox Business Channel can't use Dow Jones content in the U.S. when it launches in October (see CNBC above) but there's a big world out there. How about a Wall Street Journal Channel in Asia, where your StarTV blankets more than 300 million folks in 53 countries? Maybe one in Eastern Europe, too, where you've recently been buying up TV stations, or one for your satellite operations in Italy and Great Britain. And, well, who says the lawyers can't find a way to wriggle out of that nasty CNBC deal? I mean, especially now with CNBC looking plenty defensive by chatting up the Financial Times about their own content deal.

And while I'm at it, have you ever seriously considered buying the FT? You should. Its parent company, Pearson, has been getting a lot of yapping from large shareholders who worry that you'll steamroll the FT with your new purchase. And the Times' core readers just coincidentally happen to be mostly in Europe—precisely where the Journal could use more eyeballs. So set up another breakfast, Rupert. What would it cost? $2 billion, give or take? I'm sure you have that lying around somewhere.

Grover is Los Angeles bureau manager for BusinessWeek.

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