The other Les speaks

By SDH Dow Jones's new low key CEO Les Hinton, has been relatively silent since moving into Richard Zanino's old office. But with the dust starting to settle, the media industry's other Les speaks about, the effort to make Dow Jones and News Corp one big happy family under one big roof and why it was crazy of them to have spun the idea about taking down the paid wall at The Wall Street Journal's website WSJ.com. "The initial thought was if we were not having a pay barrier, we could grow very quickly and get the resulting advertising. That frankly was probably a little bit simplistic because ... it has over a million subscribers. Without going into detail, we get tens of millions in revenue from it." Hinton signals WSJ-News Corp tie-up [Media Guardian]

Jeff Bewkes is a green CEO + The Wall Street Journal changing one section at a time and more.....

By SDH Jeff Bewkes was already making CEO money before becoming CEO of Time Warner. He made a sexy $19.4 million in 2007 [AP] For those of you who care, Emmis Communications is unloading Country Sampler magazine. Something about it not fitting with the current image or something like that. [FolioMag] Another Murdoch looks to make a mark in the media business. Elisabeth Murdoch’s company, Shine bought Reveille Productions, which produces “Ugly Betty,” and “The Office.” She may have already bought her mark. [NYT] The Wall Street Journal is revamping it’s “Market Place” section and this has some newsroom employees wondering what their roll will be [NYT] Fox Newser Chris Wallace calls out colleagues who he says Took Obama’s comments about race out of context. OK so how long until Wallace is booted? Doesn’t he know that Fox News is dedicated to pushing the republican agenda? [Media Talk]

Rupert Murdoch wants the Wall Street Journal a little closer to him

-SDH The Observer is reporting that Rupert Murdoch may be moving some Wall Street Journal staff out of the financial district and sticking them in midtown in the News Corp building. Of course the people moving to the News Corp building would be on the editorial side so that Rupe can keep a close eye and/or hand on things. If such a move does take place, isn't Rupert just adding fuel to allegations that he moonlights as the Editor in Chief of is newspapers? One senior newsroom source with knowledge of the situation said that the move was "very likely" and it's something that Mr. Murdoch has been "strongly considering" for some time. Another source confirmed it should happen by the end of the year. More....

And now this morning's worthy media business news...

We totally forgot that Vivendi even existed. After dropping the Universal from the corporate name we pretty much forgot about them. Anyway they are trying to invade Bertelsmann's turf by trying to land a stake in Germany's largest pay-tv broadcaster Premiere. [Reuters] The bids are in for U.S. government owned airwaves. So far the FCC has received $2.78 billion in bids. Companies that are expected to be in on the bids include AT&T and Google. [Reuters] Don Imus in hot water again [AP] We knew Rupert Murdoch couldn't say no to money. Why kill something that has been generating revenue for years. Or is this Rupe's way of showing he won't have a hand in the WSJ [NYT] Interview Magazine, Interviewed and hired [NYT]

Rupert Murdoch on his plans for the Journal, its competitors and what he would have done if he was the Financial Times

-SDH Moments after he officially took control of Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch did what any other media mogul who owns a cable business network would have done, he stopped by his Fox Business News studios for a sit down with FBN lead anchor Neil Cavuto. In his strong Aussie twang, Rupert speaks of what’s to come for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones. Rupe totally forgetful of the fact that with the Thomson-Reuters merger Dow Jones will have to work double time to become a prominent player in financial information says he wants it to be the preeminent source of financial news and information. Asked by Cavuto if he bought a dinosaur Rupert of course did not and does not believe that. We look forward to what’s coming.

And now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

-SDH With all the changes Rupert Murdoch has already made at Dow Jones & Co, like setting up an office for himself there, firing and hiring new people to run the Wall Street Journal, it makes you wonder why in the world a vote if even needed tomorrow. Is it like a ceremonial vote to mark the official transfer of ownership or something? For all we know the Bancrofts are already fighting over their cut of the $5 Billion Rupert paid for the joint. [NYT] The porn guys at Penthouse Media Group are doing the same things the guys are doing at other media companies like News Corp are doing. They are dropping major green on social networking sites to drive business. [NYT] Something called The Competition Commission is pushing for BskyB to cut it's share in ITV from 17.9% to between 5 and 10%. Will James Murdoch, son of Rupert go for that? [MediaGuardian] While it's employees were outside screaming "WE WANT OUR BENEFITS BACK YOU BASTARDS", Viacom/MTV was busy sending out press releases like the once announcing formation of Digital Fusion, a new group that will focus on creating customized cross media campaigns for advertisers [Mediaweek]

The Murdochization of Dow Jones: Rupert Murdoch does the expected, say hello to the other Les

If the Bancrofts were to swing by the offices of their once beloved company, Dow Jones, in about a month or so, they probably wouldn’t know the people who are now running the show there. Final papers haven't been signed yet and already Rupert Murdoch, the man who wined and dined the Bancrofts into selling him their company, is already putting his stamp all over it. As expected, Dow Jones CEO Richard Zaninno is gone, in what seems to be a rush out the door, and a new CEO has been named. Based on earlier published reports all bets were on former Times of London editor Robert Thomson taking the helm, putting the legendary company back in the leading hands of a journalist. But Rupert and company pulled a sneaky one and installed yet another Murdochian (someone loyal to the Murdoch’s) out of his hat in naming Les Hinton CEO of Dow Jones. In naming Hinton CEO, Thomson was also named Publisher of the Wall Street Journal, signaling Rupert's desire to keep a tight grip on things at the company. But what will happen when both Hinton and Thomson move into their new rolls and start calling the shots? OK so that was such a cliche question that we all know the answer to. Word is there are more departures expected from the company as Murdoch moves to fill the executive offices with hand picked individuals from across News Corp. Will the Wall Street Journal's newsroom be made over as well with faces familiar to both Hinton and Thomson? This is only the beginning and we can't wait to see how it all plays out. Oh yeah, and that promise Rupert made in writing to not snoop around editorial, did they think he wouldn't find a way around that? With Rupert’s plans to take down the paid wall of the Wall Street Journal’s website, Hinton and Thomson have one of their first challenges in keeping the site revenue driven. On another not, why do we get the impression that News Corp's so called number two Peter Chernin was kept out of this deal? Just asking. -SDH Les Hinton to take reins as Dow Jones CEO [Fortune]

Rob Thomson and Rupert Murdoch have man love for each other, and they both dig Asian chicks

-YOSH Robert Thomson may very well be the next CEO of Dow Jones, after current CEO Richard Zaninno departs after the deal closes next week. Perhaps Zannino will go back into fashion retail or something. Robert Thomson is probably Rupert Murdoch's most vocal supporter. He was the one cheering for Rupe on the sidelines during the whole showdown with the flip flopping Bancroft family, and as the deal comes to a close we are starting to see why. Rupert and Rob we're sure see eye to eye on many things business related and personal. But the biggest thing these two share in common, and this could be a huge part of their tight relationship, is that they are both into Asian chicks, literally. However, Rupert's wife Wendy is a hotter bone hands down.

Rupert Murdoch won't fill the Wall Street Journal with pussy stories, maybe stories about pussy though

-MARTY Legendary Journalist Ben Bradlee has no worries about what the Wall Street Journal will look like in a year because he thinks Rupert Murdoch is a better Journalist than most real journalists. Though Bradlee doesn't seem to know the media titan on a personal, personal level, he does remember Rupert from back in the day when he used to stop off in Washington on his way back from Sydney Australia. Bradlee said during this time they had DC cops follow Murdoch to track his every move. And we thought this only happened to rappers. What do you think the Wall Street Journal will look like a year from now? I don't worry about it. I think [Rupert] Murdoch is a better journalist than the rest of you do. Really? Why do you say that? Well, I think because he's smart, and he's not going to fill it up with pussy stories. And he's going to get good reporters. I think he does not want to fail on this. Wonder if Ben Bradlee is implying that Wall Street Journal competitors fill their pages with "Pussy Stories" BEN BEHAVING BRADLEE [Radar]

And now this morning's kinda worthy media news

Good news for new Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch, the paper now has 1 million online subscribers. Still thinking about going all free Rupe? [Reuters] Jeff Bewkes is already under pressure from the media and he hasn't even been named CEO yet. We hope expectations aren't set too high for the incoming CEO of TimeWarner [Marketwatch] Some how Citi Group CEO Chuck Prince's resignation officially makes 2007 a great year for CNBC reporter Maria Bartiromo [NYT] CBS Mobile's unapologetic boss kills babies [NYT]

Op-Ed columnists and more break free at NYtimes.com

The powers that be at The New York Times finally set its Op-Ed columnists and others free to be seen and read by all. We have to say that it was a total pain in the ass especially if its an article we were itching to read. We almost paid for the frigging thing one day and caught ourselves because we believed that the day would come. We guess freedom is contagious because now there is word that The Wall Street Journal's soon to be owner Rupert Murdoch is thinking about busting out the WSJ.com website as well. Lets see if the Financial Times will follow.

Weekend Wire: The round up

And now the weekend's worthy media news: The proper footwear may come in handy this week for Seventeen magazine underlings Atoosa Rubenstein's last day was Wednesday. So what exactly will Seventeen magazine staffers walk into on Monday morning, and do they have the shoes for it? Wall Street Journal teaser The Wall Street Journal published their "50 Women to watch" list carried on the front page of Yahoo! However you must be a paid subscriber for full access to the list. Guess its their way of trying to attract new business. They figured potential prospects would want the complete list so bad they would sign up for the paper. NOPE! not us at least. The Karmazination of a satellite merger We heard it before but are the rumors closer to reality this time around. Former Viacom prexy and current Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin is sparking the Sirius XM merger rumor mil again. "both stocks went up. So I guess investors think [a merger] could be interesting." Grandpa Sumner losing the game Is Sumner Redstone secretly taking an ass whipping in the video game business? In what should be a golden time for every company in the industry, Midway stock plummeted to $8.53 a share on Friday from a five-year high of $23.16 last December. Redstone and entities controlled by his family hold 88 percent of the outstanding shares.