Dow Jones has suffered yet another cut in its credit ratings because of weaker earnings from advertising by its flagship publication, The Wall Street Journal.

The ratings agency Standard & Poor's issued its gloomy predictions about Dow Jones' finances less than three weeks after the competing agency Fitch Ratings slashed the media group's ratings.

"During the past two years, the Journal has suffered a more substantial deterioration in its advertising revenues and cash flow than other newspaper publishers," according to S&P's Donald Wong.

Mr Wong said this was "due to the challenging economic conditions and the [Journal's] dependence on financial and technology advertising".

Bleak future

Looking ahead, S&P said another cut was more likely than a recovery for Dow Jones' rating.

The downgrade might mean that it will become more expensive for the group to service its $100m (�64m) debts.

Dow Jones' earnings have fallen sharply during the last year.

During the July to September quarter, Dow Jones' income totalled $5.3m.

A year earlier, the group made $17.4m during the same period.

Dow Jones' shares have also fallen sharply in recent months from $54.73 in January to $34.10 in early trading on Wednesday.

Media empire

Beyond publishing The Wall Street Journal in the US, Dow Jones also publishes The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Asian Wall Street Journal, as well as a range of other publications.

Dow Jones is also the co-owner with NBC of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe, which are branded "a service of NBC and Dow Jones".

Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC in the US.