• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 17, 2007

Rupert Murdoch appears to have moved a step closer to acquiring financial news giant Dow Jones & Co., according to a report by its flagship paper, The Wall Street Journal, and News Corp. is wasting no time organizing its new Fox Business Network, naming John McCann head of advertising sales for the fledgling cable channel.

According to the Journal, News Corp. has reached a tentative agreement to acquire Dow Jones for $5 billion, and the Dow Jones board is scheduled to meet this evening to approve the deal. The breakthrough comes after weeks of haggling and mixed signals from the Bancroft family, which controls 64% of Dow Jones voting stock.

The deal would help catapult News Corp. into the world's business news leader, and would help fuel the launch of Fox Business Network.

On Monday, News Corp. named John McCann, part of the sales operation for sister network Fox News Channel during its boom period, to takes over as vice president of ad sales for FBN in advance of the Oct. 15 debut.

McCann also has experience in sales at FBN's main target: CNBC.

He will continue to have a role in Fox News Channel's sales group, reporting to Paul Rittenberg, senior vice president of ad sales for Fox News.

"McCann has played a key role in helping the network achieve growth and profitability," Rittenberg said. "He is an asset to Fox News Channel, and I am confident that he will continue to excel in his new position." The new sales executive has been at FNC since 2001, coming from CNBC, where he was a senior account executive. Fox News is expected to launch in 30 million homes, and could leverage its relationship with FNC to drive sales.