'Wall Street Journal Asia' Circ Spikes on Subscription Growth

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By: E&P Staff Dow Jones & Co. said circulation of its Wall Street Journal Asia daily jumped 6.3% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2008.

The circulation gain was fueled mainly by what Dow Jones called a "substantial increase in subscriptions, with particularly significant growth in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Taiwan."

Average daily circulation rose to 85,822 in the period between January to June 2009 from 80,706 copies in the first half of 2008.

Christine Brendle, publisher of The Wall Street Journal Asia and managing director/Asia of Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, said the circulation gain "is an early return on a series of investments in content and distribution that directly benefit our subscribers, and of innovative marketing programs to achieve higher-quality circulation in key markets."

Since News Corp. acquired Dow Jones in 2007, it has undertaken a number of initiatives in Asia.

Last March it announced printing, distribution and content licensing agreements with The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan. In May it began printing The Wall Street Journal Asia in India. Since December it has launched or expanded Web sites, including Chinese.WSJ.com and asia.WSJ.com, and a homepage for India, india.WSJ.com.

In a joint venture between Dow Jones and SBI Holdings Inc. of Japan, Wall Street Journal Japan K.K. later this year launch a Japanese-language business and financial news Web site. Dow Jones holds 60% of Wall Street Journal Japan K.K. and SBIH holds 40%.

The new site will carry the Wall Street Journal brand and will primarily feature Japanese translations of content, including video and other multimedia, from all print and online editions of The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications.

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