• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 2, 2007

The myth is that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's proposal to buy Dow Jones would be an acquisition of an old-line print media company, when, in fact, he'd be buying another MySpace.

One analyst estimates two-thirds of next year's Dow Jones cash flow will come from electronic business such as the WallStreetJournal,com, Marketwatch.com, and Factiva.com.

"Dow Jones is electronic journalism disguised as a newspaper," Larry Haverty, an associate portfolio manager of the Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust, told The New York Times.

The spike in Dow Jones stock yesterday, up almost 65% from the day before, also puts Dow Jones in similar MySpace company. Both have been vastly undervalued by the stock market.

The difference? Unlike MySpace, Dow Jones already has lots of ready-made content perfectly suited for new digital-minded advertisers.

TV-wise, all this makes for big-time drama on networks such as CNBC.  Wall Street Journal reporters already make regular appearances on CNBC, the network that Murdoch's new Fox Business Channel will set out to beat.

If he buys Dow Jones, Murdoch may not get access to those Wall Street Journal reporters and editors for Fox right away, since the deal with CNBC doesn't end for another five years. Yet we all know that lawyers and money can do a lot of convincing.

The story could result in perhaps other bidders joining the hunt -- General Electric, the New York Times, and, perhaps one company overlooked by virtually everyone, Google.

Though it could perhaps threaten their livelihood down the line, you could almost hear the lips smacking among CNBC anchors and editors when considering another juicy takeover battle  -- and, at the center,  the guy who knows financial drama more than most.

Time and again, Murdoch has gone "all in" when it comes to his entertainment properties.

In the late '80s, the Fox network was on the brink of extinction. Then a relatively unknown Fox show, "Married With Children" made the cover of Time magazine -- all because a concerned Bloomfield Hills, Mich. housewife didn't want to put her children in front of a TV set when the racy show came on at 8 p.m.

There are loads of other Murdoch stories: starting up "The Simpsons," acquiring the NFL, the New World TV stations, and most recently, MySpace.

Most times his enthusiasm for the deal has worked for him -- but not exactly how it appeared at the outset.

When considering the 105-year-old media company called Dow Jones, Murdoch is probably thinking most of another big-time deal with a big-time brand, the Wall Street Journal. But his comprehension isn't in newsprint form.