Murdoch’s Gamble: Will It Benefit Media ETFs?

Free daily news on the Internet is a luxury that many Americans have become comfortable with. Some feel that they’ve gotten a little too comfortable. That’s why Rupert Murdoch is taking aim at the old model with a new one. Will exchange traded funds (ETFs) benefit, or is this idea DOA?

Murdoch wants major engines such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to pay for news generated by his newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal and the Times in London. Now, reports suggest that Microsoft wants to strike a deal with Murdoch’s company, News Corporation (NYSE:NWS). Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) would pay for news articles to appear on its new search engine Bing, on the condition that they are removed from Google, reports BBC News.

News Corp. does run the risk of decreased ad revenue and low traffic if this were to occur. Microsoft would use exclusives with widely read publications as a way to gain share in the lucrative market for online search.

Delivery of these companies to public service is the breach of particular antitrust issues if these exclusivity rights were to be sealed, reports Douglas MacMillan for BusinessWeek. Theoretically, other publications could join News Corp and cut ties with Google. An immediate slide in views and readers would be the price they pay, though. Is it worth it?

• PowerShares Dynamic Media (PBS): up 51.5% year-to-date

• First Trust Dow Jones Internet (FDN): up 73.2% year-to-date; Google 9.8% of assets

• Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK): up 45% year-to-date; Microsoft 10.6%; Google 6.4%;

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