Tag Archives: Bloomberg
Dow Jones looking to hire Bloomberg executive to be its CEO
by Chris Roush
Russell Adams of The Wall Street Journal reports that its parent company, Dow Jones & Co., is in talks with Bloomberg executive Lex Fenwick to be its next chief executive officer.
Former Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton, who also served as Journal publisher, resigned last year after being implicated in the News Corp. phone hacking scandal.
Adams writes, “The hire, while not final, would fill a position vacated six months ago when the previous CEO stepped down amid the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp.’s UK newspaper division.
“Mr. Fenwick has spent 25 years at Bloomberg where he managed the financial-data giant’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa before he was appointed CEO in 2001. He stepped down from that job in 2008, and since then Mr. Fenwick has been running Bloomberg Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary tasked with developing new businesses.
“A spokeswoman for Bloomberg had no immediate comment. Earlier this week Mr. Fenwick denied that he was joining Dow Jones, saying ‘I work at Bloomberg.’ He couldn’t be reached late Friday.”
Read more here.
Bloomberg to launch luxury magazine
by Chris Roush
David Lipke of Women’s Wear Daily writes Friday about Bloomberg Pursuits, the new luxury magazine from Bloomberg LP.
Lipke writes, “Bloomberg Pursuits is a spin-off of Bloomberg Markets, the monthly business magazine that also goes to Terminal users. Circulation for each of the two titles is 375,000, with the non-Terminal copies going to subscribers and newsstand buyers.
“‘You can’t get our audience anywhere else,’ said David Bowling, advertising director at Bloomberg Pursuits, noting distribution is highly international, with about 60 percent of the audience outside the U.S., in financial centers such as the U.K., Japan, Hong Kong and Germany. The average household income of Bloomberg Pursuits readers is $452,000, and 90 percent are male.
“The debut issue contains 46 edit pages and 30 ad pages, from brands such as Hermès, Chanel, Zegna, Rolls-Royce and NetJets. A second issue will be published in the fourth quarter, and the title is scheduled to go quarterly in 2013. The title will compete for ad dollars with business-oriented lifestyle titles, including WSJ., Departures, ForbesLife, Robb Report and the Financial Times’ How to Spend It.
“Editorially, Bloomberg Pursuits plans to distinguish itself from the competitive set by often spotlighting its own readership and exploring its passions. Stories in the first issue include profiles of a Bloomberg subscriber who travels to Antarctica on an icebreaker to witness a solar eclipse, another subscriber who builds his own racing yacht and a third who collects Ferraris, only to deconstruct and improve them.”
Read more here.
Facebook hires Bloomberg social media editor
by Chris Roush
Dan Fletcher, the social media editor at Bloomberg News, has been hired by Facebook to be its managing editor, reports Kevin Lincoln of Business Insider.
Lincoln writes, “Both Fletcher and sources at Facebook confirmed that Fletcher will make the move, but weren’t ready yet to discuss what his responsibilities will be at Facebook.
“Another source tells us that Facebook could be looking at LinkedIn’s LinkedIn Today as a possible model.
“Fletcher graduated from Northwestern University in 2009, where he majored in journalism. Prior to Bloomberg, he worked as special projects editor at Time.”
Bloomberg employees miffed at lower pay
by Chris Roush
Keith Kelly of the New York Post writes that Bloomberg LP employees are upset with lower bonuses for 2011 despite a strong year for the data and media company.
Kelly writes, “Bloomberg set a town hall-style meeting for this week, where employees expect the issue of lower compensation to come up, sources said.
“Bloomberg said it had a total of 310,000 terminals installed worldwide, but “net terminal” additions of 13,672 in 2011 fell short of its goal of 15,000.
“Non-terminal revenue growth, which includes Bloomberg’s TV and radio operations as well as magazines Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets, also fell short of forecasts. Revenue grew by $216 million last year, below the $335 million targeted.
“The missed projections translate into lower bonus money for all the employees at the company, including the 2,300 journalists.”
Covering the giant cocktail party that is Davos
by Chris Roush
Merrill Knox of TVNewser interviewed Bloomberg Television anchor Eric Schatzker about covering the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and whether it’s something business journalists should be focusing on.
Knox writes, “Reporting from the World Economic Forum is also a unique experience because the nightlife scene in Davos is often used as a reporting tool, Schatzker says.
“‘At night is when people let their guard down a little more and you can have more frank conversations,’ he says. ‘You can find out what people really think about things, you can work them in terms of guest bookings, and just develop relationships in an environment that would be very, very difficult to replicate back home.’
“The conference is known for its party scene, which is an important concept to present to viewers, Schatzker notes.
“‘Is it a giant fancy cocktail party on the slopes of a Swiss mountain village, or is it something more meaningful than that?’ he says. ‘Either way, the answer is important.’”
Read more here.
Following in your mother’s footsteps
by Chris Roush
Amy Tennery of JaneDough.com interviewed Bloomberg Television anchor Trish Regan about her job and how she got into business journalism.
Hers is an excerpt:
TJD: I hear that your mother was a reporter and she used to take you out on reporting. Do you feel that your relationship with your mother influenced your eventual career?
TR: Absolutely. When I was in my early 20s, I decided – as much as I loved opera – that there were (and I’ll use an economic phrase here) too many opportunity costs. My mother definitely had an influence on my ultimate decision to pursue a career in journalism because that was the profession she had chosen. She was a writer for the Union-Leader in New Hampshire and she was a reporter for the Concord Monitor. I spent a lot of time as a kid at the library, where she’d go and do research. And occasionally, when she was strapped for childcare, might have tagged along on an interview or two.
TJD: It’s great that she made her career work despite the fact that she maybe didn’t always have childcare opportunities. Do you feel like having a ‘career mother’ pushed you to pick a less traditional career path?
TR: She always told me, from as early as I can remember, “You can do anything you want to do.” And that was always the message that communicated.
TJD: Would you want your own daughters to get into financial news?
TR: I want my daughters to do whatever it is that makes them happy. And that could be from being a CEO of a multinational corporation to being a stay-at-home mom. I think that that’s the real key. You’ve got to choose something that you enjoy in life.
Read more here.
Chronicling how money moves
by Chris Roush
Crissa Shoemaker DeBree of the Bucks County Courier Times profiles Bloomberg Television’s Deirdre Bolton, whose show “MoneyMoves with Deirdre Bolton” appears every weekday afternoon.
DeBree writes, “During the hour-long show, Bolton leads a team that dispenses news on how money flows into hedge funds, venture capital, angel investing, real estate, natural resources and other alternatives to the stock market.
“‘There’s not really a more interesting time to be in business news,’ Bolton said. ‘More and more people are more knowledgeable about their own finances, their government’s finances, the global credit crisis. Stories about the economy are on the front page of every newspaper. My job now is more putting those details in context for people. There’s so much information out there that the value-added we try to provide for people is explaining what’s going on in very clear terms.’
“Bolton wasn’t always interested in business news.
“The Council Rock graduate, in fact, studied English and French literature at the University of Iowa. Her knowledge of French took her to Paris, where she began doing translation work for two French banks. From there, she ended up in sales and then, on Wall Street selling European equities to U.S. portfolio managers.
“To prepare for Wall Street, and earn her securities licenses, Bolton went to school at night and read the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times daily. And she was introduced to Bloomberg, the financial news service that also provides tools to traders.”
Read more here.
Bloomberg’s Keene talks Davos coverage
by Chris Roush
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Bloomberg TV and Radio host Tom Keene will deliver his programs “Bloomberg Surveillance”and “Surveillance Midday” starting Wednesday live from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the gathering of some of the world’s most powerful people.
Keene is editor of “Flying on One Engine: The Bloomberg Book of Master Market Economists,” published in 2005.
Keene is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and is enrolled in courses at the external programme of the London School of Economics & Political Science.
Keene is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute, the National Association for Business Economics, and the Economic Club of New York.
Talking Biz News talked via e-mail Monday with Keene, who also serves as an editor-at -large for Bloomberg News, about his plans for the event. What follows is an edited transcript.
Why is Davos a business news story?
Leading CEOs go there to visit with each other — and they take many, many meetings in support of their business. They also want to listen to smart people in economics and finance.
How does a business journalist cover Davos properly?
I certainly cover Davos differently than I did pre-financial crisis. My first year covering Davos there were acres of celebrities; this year, you can count them on one hand.
Davos has gotten much more serious but even still, there are different ways to cover it. My job is to find the distinctions in the debate of economics, finance and investment.
It seems as if there are a lot of business journalists who cover Davos. How do you differentiate your coverage?
It’s simple: we try to get the best guests. It’s all about the guests. Also, we go morning, noon and late night having conversations and debates about the issues of the moment. I’ve never skied at Davos — but “InsideTrack” host Erik Schatzker owns the mountain. He’s all double black diamond.
How do you prepare to cover Davos before you fly over?
We do a lot of reading – of research notes, academic research and literature, and also the zeitgeist out there — what are people are writing in op-eds, like Bloomberg View. For example, on Monday Simon Johnson wrote a blistering essay pushing against the optimism of a European solution.
What do you think are the big business-related stories that will be happening?
There is only one story out of Davos and that is cost-cutting, due to slow top-line growth. Look at the Bank of America announcement Bloomberg News’ Hugh Son reported Monday afternoon. Austerity has hit with a vengeance in Europe, and there’s anxiety in the United States over high unemployment.
How much of the worldwide economic situation do you think will be discussed at Davos?
The crisis is front and center. If there’s one thing I learned at Davos, it’s that business leaders are desperate to understand the interdependencies in economics and what are the set of solutions to get us out of this mess.
How do all of these people getting together at the World Economic Forum help business and society?
Business leaders need confidence to create investment, and to create jobs. An uncertain CEO is not job-constructive.
Do you use Davos for source development, to meet people you’d like to interview for Bloomberg TV or another part of Bloomberg’s operations?
Absolutely. One of the great things of Davos is the eclectic set of attendees. I can be standing having a beverage of my choice with an Internet leader, a private equity director and an academic who is a leader on malaria in Africa.
There are elements of truth to the stereotypes at Davos — like the helicopters — but there’s a lot of good, too. People work very hard at Davos.
How does Bloomberg coordinate its coverage of Davos and what are you doing differently this year?
Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg News have built out our coverage over many years. What we’ve learned is we need a deep staff to support our best journalists, because no one can do it alone. And this year TV studio is bigger and better than ever, and even more comfortable for our guests.
Why do you think Davos is “dithering”?
Last year was the ‘Davos of Our Discontent.’ This year, the most used word I’m seeing is ‘dither.’ Europe is dithering. If Davos doesn’t lead, it will be a dithering Davos.
Reuters hires Grover from Bloomberg Businessweek
by Chris Roush
TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Ronald Grover, the longtime Los Angeles media reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, has resigned to accept a position with Reuters.
Grover will become the Los Angeles bureau chief for Reuters. The change will be announced as soon as later Friday.
While Reuters has been hiring a number of big-name business journalists in the past year, this move is an important hire in that Reuters now has a deal for much of its Hollywood business coverage with The Wrap. Grover’s hiring means that the news service would become more aggressive in covering that beat.
Grover covers the media and entertainment industry for Bloomberg Businessweek in Los Angeles. Grover joined BusinessWeek’s Washington bureau in 1979, covering energy policy. From 1982 to 1986 he was BusinessWeek’s congressional correspondent.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1986 as a correspondent, covering entertainment, politics, and other business news.
Grover has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs including CNBC’s “Kudlow and Cramer,” “America Now,” and “Squawk Box,” as well as PBS’s “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.” Most recently, he appeared on CNBC’s “Kudlow and Cramer” discussing the “Hollywood Heist” cover story.
Grover holds an MBA from George Washington University and a master’s from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author of “The Disney Touch.”
Bloomberg takes jab at Comcast on anniversary of CNBC deal
by Chris Roush
Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes about how Bloomberg LP took a jab at rival CNBC on the one-year anniversary of its acquisition by Comcast.
Flint writes, “Bloomberg, parent of business news channel Bloomberg Television, thinks that Comcast should be required to put the Bloomberg channel near its main competitor CNBC on its cable systems. Bloomberg has argued practically since the day Comcast announced its deal with NBCUniversal that it feared the cable giant would favor NBC’s CNBC financial channel over Bloomberg on its systems, which reach more than 20 million consumers.
“Last June, Bloomberg filed a complaint against Comcast at the Federal Communications Commission arguing that the conditions of the government’s approval of the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal require Bloomberg to be moved closer so it can be in the same “neighborhood” as CNBC. The FCC is still reviewing the matter and no timetable is set for a ruling.
“‘Marking yesterday’s one-year anniversary of the FCC’s Order approving Comcast’s blockbuster acquisition of NBC Universal, it’s time for Comcast to live up to the bargain it accepted to secure its merger,’ said Greg Babyak, head of government affairs for Bloomberg LP. ‘Rather than continue to watch Comcast thumb its nose at the FCC and the American viewing public, the FCC should immediately require Comcast to stick to commitments, and implement the plain language of the order, including the news neighborhooding condition.’
“Comcast has countered that the FCC’s conditions do not require it to move Bloomberg closer to CNBC.”
Read more here.
