The new chief executive of Dow Jones & Co., Les Hinton, said he expects Dow Jones flagship, the Wall Street Journal, to see “a 40 per cent increase year-on-year in actual audience” in the Asia-Pacific region for its Web site, The Australian reported Thursday.

Hinton also said it is increasingly unlikely that the entire wsj.com site will become a free, completely ad-based site.

Hinton also told The Australian in an exclusive interview that the level of consumer advertising at the Journal had already been raised since News Corp. bought it. The Australian is also owned by News Corp.

The site generates high subscription rates, which couldn't be replaced if the site were to go free, he said.

“The initial thought was if we were not having a pay barrier, we could grow very quickly and get the resulting advertising,” he told The Australian. “That frankly was probably a little bit simplistic because ... it has over a million subscribers. Without going into detail, we get tens of millions in revenue from it.”