Categories: OLD Media Moves

NBC still mulling Dow Jones offer

Dan Sabbagh, the media correspondent of The Times of London, writes for Tuesday’s paper that NBC is still mulling an offer for Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal.

Sabbagh wrote, “Over the weekend, it emerged that GE and Microsoft held talks about a joint bid, but that those discussions came to an end a few weeks ago. The two are partners in the cable news venture MSNBC.

“However, GE was careful yesterday to indicate that, while the Microsoft tie-up was not progressing, a bid should not be ruled out. It issued a statement saying: ‘NBC Universal has a successful history of strategic acquisitions and as standard practice is always evaluating opportunities. Itâ€™s simply good business.’

“Wall Street reacted cautiously, pushing down Dow Jones shares 26 cents to $60.16, just above News Corpâ€™s $60 a share approach, as the market concentrated on the collapse of the Microsoft discussions. Although GE remains in the race, its inability to work with a familiar partner makes it harder to join in a consortium bid.”

Read more here.Â

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.