Rupert Murdoch has always loved an audience. With businesses ranging from British Sky Broadcasting to the New York Post, he has been willing to sacrifice short-term profitability (or, in the latter case, profitability full stop) in the pursuit of more viewers or readers. Will News Corporation’s chairman take the same view when he completes his long-cherished purchase of Dow Jones? Probably.

Mr Murdoch has already hinted he might make The Wall Street Journal’s subscription-based website free, to attract a bigger audience. He is also likely to try building newspaper circulation by adding more national US news to the mix and making it more attractive to non-business readers. That could backfire, if not sensitively done, by scaring off existing subscribers. But, overall, the Journal does have an opportunity to expand in the US. Other levers could include better national distribution, or even using price as a circulation weapon, as News Corp has done with newspapers elsewhere. That could hurt The New York Times Company and Gannett, owner of another national newspaper, USA Today. Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, could also feel the heat, depending on the Journal’s international strategy.