'Bloomberg' Shakes Up Politics, 'Businessweek' Post-Election

Following the U.S. presidential election, Bloomberg is making some major changes to its Politics and Businessweek brands to focus more on global business news coverage.

Bloomberg is cancelling its “With All Due Respect” TV politics show starring John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, also the faces of “The Circus,” a TV show that went behind the scenes of the presidential candidates’ campaigns.

“In the coming weeks, as Washington transitions from the Obama Administration to the incoming Trump Administration, our Bloomberg Politics team will transition as well—shifting our focus to the impact of politics and policy on the business and financial world,” Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait and Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith wrote in a memo to staff.

In the memo, Micklethwait and Smith said it was a “mutual decision” with Heilemann and Halperin to cancel the show. It will come to a “natural conclusion” with the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump.

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The show will continue its regular daily scheduling until December 2. The “With All Due Respect” team will then produce four, special hourlong features previewing the Trump presidency that will air in the week leading up to the inauguration.

Halperin and Heilemann are in talks to continue at Bloomberg as contributors and columnists.

In February, Bloomberg plans to launch a new TV show focused on the impact of the new administration’s policies on global politics, business and finance. The company is also reorganizing Bloomberg Politics, which launched in 2014 in New York as a separate entity from its Washington D.C. coverage.

Now, Bloomberg Politics will “broaden out” from its domestic focus to a “more global outlook” and add additional coverage of Europe and Asia.

The Web site will also be redesigned to look “more globally oriented."

Bloomberg Businessweek magazine’s top editor Ellen Pollock is leaving, according to a second memo from yesterday. Businessweek deputy editor Brian Wieners will exit with her. Her departure comes as Bloomberg announced plans to relaunch Businessweek in the second quarter of 2017.

In the memo, Micklethwait and Smith said: "Editorially, we want to integrate BBW's journalists more deeply into the rest of the newsroom. Our content needs to become more targeted on business and finance, more global and more digital."

Micklethwait and Smith said Businessweek “faces some deep challenges.” Bloomberg wants to move the magazine's business model away from print advertising revenue and expand its live events and digital subscription revenue business.

BBW's business model has also not evolved as quickly as the market around it — and does not have enough of a focus on digital innovation. The revenue model is still too reliant on declining print advertising rather than digital or multiplatform subscriber revenue. We don’t feel that the franchise fully reflects the scale of Bloomberg’s global presence,” they wrote.

This is not a good sign for Businessweek staffers. In the memo, the executives suggested “the central editorial team may well be smaller” when the magazine relaunches.

Washington bureau chief Megan Murphy has been named to replace Pollock as editor of Bloomberg Businessweek. Otis Bilodeau will serve as Murphy's deputy editor.

Businessweek  will also create a new publishing director role to focus on consumer marketing, digital subscriptions and advertising revenue. Micklethwait and Smith said they plan to hire someone from outside of the company for the position.
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