Ready for the Fox Dow Jones Industrials?

It is the world's most famous financial index, a household name from Paris to Peru.

Even people who don't know anything about the market know the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It's been the way the world has taken the financial temperature since the Roaring '20s and the Crash of '29.

And if Rupert Murdoch gets control of Dow Jones(DJ Quote), as seems increasingly likely, he will be able to rename it whatever he wants.

Hello ... the Fox Dow Jones Industrial Average? The Fox Business Network Average? How about the Rupert and Wendi Murdoch Industrial Average? (Just kidding.)

Naming rights to the DJIA may be the surprise kicker to Murdoch's $6 billion-plus battle for control of The Wall Street Journal's publisher. Dow Jones spokesman Howard Hoffman confirms that the company's owner would have exclusive rights to the index and its name.

Hoffman questions whether Murdoch would want to tinker with one of the most famous names in the financial world. "The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an iconic brand," he points out.

True. But so what?

This is business. And Murdoch is poised to spend more than $6 billion on a company that produced $105 million in operating income last year.

You have to assume he has a plan to squeeze those assets till the pips squeak. The only way this deal stacks up for News Corp.(NWS Quote) shareholders is if Dow Jones is milked for the rest of Murdoch's empire.

To watch Brittany Umar's video take of this column, click here.