Is it me or did the Wall Street Journal just start to publish SPORTS news?

The Weekend Journal, which is delivered on Fridays now includes a sports page. And you might find "Game Time" useful, which is a quick summary of various games and sporting events that are on TV. I think it's aiming to be a kind of "What's News" of the front page for busy execs that want to know which games that they can catch on TV coming up.

But wait, that's not it! According to BtoB: The Magazine for Marketing Strategists's April 7, 2008 issue (page 13) the article, "News Corp. starts overhaul of 'WSJ'" details some other changes to the Journal:

"...more WSJ.com content available for free, suach as opinion pieces from the
print Journal. WSJ.com has also expanded free content about travel and
sports, as well as new blogs. Personal finance...are also free on WSJ.com

...Morningstar was providing new investor tools and international investment
funds data to the Web site.

On Sept. 6, Down Jones will debut WSJ., a glossy lifestyle publication that will be delivered...as an insert in the newspaper's "Weekend Edition"

It looks like the WSJ.com is trying to look at some of the NY Times audience and broaden it's appeal...plus, the price for the subscription is deeply discounted for subscribers as well as they throw in a free online WSJ.com subscription these days [see www.getwallstreetjournal.com for the 1 year for $125 + free wsj.com + free 8 weeks + free delivery offer details]

It must be working becuase according to the article, WSJ.com subscriber base increased from 931,000 last May to now over 1.1 Million people. Hey, I ain't complaining about these new, free additions, are you? :-)

Labels: free content, sports, weekend journal, wsj magazine, wsj.com

Rupert Murdoch is definitely a force to be reckoned with -- especially if you're on the editorial staff at The Wall Street Journal it seems. He's the boss now for 2 months, and there's some major changes come down the line. . .

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch pledged to broaden news coverage in the Dow Jones & Co. paper and go head-to-head with The New York Times in the battle for national influence....

In the nearly two months that he has been in charge, Mr. Murdoch has worked to deliver on those promises.

Major news stories dominate the front page. The long, offbeat or investigative stories--formerly a page-one centerpiece--have grown scarce. Last week, Journal officials said the paper would add sports coverage. . .

Crain's New York 08.02.03

They recently added Weather to the Journal. Now Sports in the Wall Street Journal? I'm assuming that Dilbert in the back of the Marketplace section isn't that far behind?

Have you noticed any changes in the types of articles the WSJ has been putting out? Do you like it?

Labels: rupert murdoch, sports, wall street journal, wsj.com