• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 30, 2007

The Federal Trade Commission will not block Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of Dow Jones on antitrust grounds, the companies reported late Tuesday, in an important milestone for the much-publicized deal. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, once it receives approval from Dow Jones shareholders.

While many opposed the deal for reasons of journalistic integrity--including some employees of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones' flagship publication--few observers anticipated regulatory obstacles.

Although Murdoch owns the New York Post, he was confident throughout that buying Dow Jones would not violate the FTC's rules against industry concentration in general.

While the FTC gave its blessing, Murdoch may still have to assuage concerns of the Federal Communications Commission, which has specific rules again cross-media ownership within a particular region.

Murdoch also owns the Fox network, Fox News and WNYW-TV in the New York City area. His ownership of the station and the Post is technically a violation of the FCC rule prohibiting cross-media ownership--but this concern was waived in 1993 because the Post was labeled a "failing" newspaper.