Dow Jones May Pick CEO Successor in 2006

By: (AP) Peter Kann, the CEO of Dow Jones & Co., told investors Wednesday that the company's board would likely name a successor for him next year.

Kann, speaking at a media conference sponsored by UBS, said Dow Jones' board was "focused" on the succession issue, noting that he would likely retire some time in 2007, the year he turns 65, under Dow Jones guidelines.

"I do expect that the board will be moving ahead on this in 2006," Kann said.

Also Wednesday, Dow Jones reported that its advertising linage at its flagship newspaper The Wall Street Journal rose 8.7% in November from the same month a year ago. However, that includes four extra issues because of the September launch of Weekend Edition, a Saturday edition of the newspaper.

That was an improvement from October, when linage rose just 1.1% compared with the same month a year ago, despite the addition of Weekend Edition.

In the year to date, Dow Jones reported that advertising linage, including Weekend Edition, fell 2.1%.