Dow Jones, currently working on a new compact version of the Asian Wall Street Journal, declined to go into detail about its plans, but issued a statement saying that it would "continue to explore ways to profitably use our assets on television internationally".
The US publisher said it remains committed to its alliance with NBC in the US, where it is paid a percentage of ad revenues in return for exclusive access to its content and branding, but revealed earlier this month it was pulling out of three loss making partnerships with the US TV giant: CNBC World, a US digital TV network and CNBC Europe as well as CNBC Asia-Pacific.
Dow Jones said that its share of losses for these three companies totalled US$17 million last year.
CNBC said it remains committed to its international channels but declined to comment on the possibility of facing its fomer ally as a potential rival. A spokesman said outright ownership would benefit the channel by enabling management to become more focused, but would not specify whether the channel was considering any changes in the way it is promoted or positioned.
The company dismissed the prospect of immediate job cuts but the exit of Dow Jones, scheduled for the end of the year, is likely to prompt a belt-tightening in the coming months.