Rupert Murdoch on Friday said he was “a bit shocked” that Dow Jones’ MarketWatch website had removed advertising for CNBC, the business news channel, on the day of the launch of his Fox Business Network, saying it seemed “rather heavy handed”.

Questions over the ads come as Mr Murdoch’s News Corp, the global media group of which he is chairman and chief executive, prepares to complete its $5bn acquisition of Dow Jones and its Wall Street Journal newspaper.