By: Lucia Moses Industry watchers said a Saturday edition reportedly being explored by
The Wall Street Journal could make the paper more competitive with
The New York Times, but also risks cannibalizing its own weekday advertising.
"They'd be competing with themselves, and [Dow Jones-owned]
Barron's," which hits newsstands on Saturday, said Brian Shipman, UBS Warburg publishing analyst.
In addition to the delivery issue -- a significant number of the
Journal's subscribers get their copy at the office -- some questioned whether people would want more
Journal on Saturday, a light readership day for general newspapers.
"Is there really time in busy people's lives on Saturday?" asked media buyer Ed Weiner of Media First International Inc. in New York. "I think it's not in people's habits to make it an extension of Monday through Friday."
Others see the idea as a natural extension of the
Journal's strategy of adding lifestyle and personal finance news to grow beyond its core businessman audience and rely less on financial and high-tech advertising.
The
Journal published Saturdays from its launch in 1889 until 1953. The five-day work week was gaining popularity and the New York Stock Exchange ceased trading Saturdays, two factors which may have led to the move to a five-day publishing schedule, the company said.
Dow Jones & Co. Chairman Peter Kann told financial analysts as recently as December that the company looks periodically at bringing back a Saturday edition. The company has otherwise been mum on the Saturday edition speculation, first reported last week by its Dow Jones Newswires.
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