Bloomberg Television

Overview

Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour business and financial news channel owned by Bloomberg L.P., the financial data and media company founded by Michael Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City with major broadcast centres in London and Hong Kong, the channel follows the trading day around the world, providing live market coverage, economic data, corporate news and interviews with executives, investors and policymakers. Its programming is aimed primarily at investors, business professionals and decision-makers.

History

Bloomberg Television launched in 1994 as an extension of Bloomberg’s financial information business, which had grown around the Bloomberg Terminal used by financial professionals worldwide. The channel developed regional feeds and editions to serve viewers across the Americas, Europe and Asia, drawing on the company’s global network of news bureaus. Over time Bloomberg integrated the channel ever more closely with its digital properties, streaming its coverage live on Bloomberg.com and through mobile and connected-TV apps, and positioning television as one pillar of a multiplatform financial news operation alongside the terminal, radio, digital and events businesses.

Programming

The schedule is structured around global market hours, moving from Asian trading through the European session to the US open and close. Flagship programmes include Bloomberg Surveillance, the influential morning markets and economics show, and Bloomberg Technology, focused on the technology industry and Silicon Valley. Daily coverage features interviews with central bankers, chief executives and fund managers, live coverage of earnings, economic releases and policy decisions, and longer-form interview and documentary programming. The channel benefits from the reporting of Bloomberg News, one of the largest business newsrooms in the world.

Significance

Bloomberg Television is one of the most widely distributed business news channels globally and a fixture on trading floors, in corporate offices and in financial centres worldwide. Its access to market data and its parent company’s journalistic resources give it particular authority in coverage of markets, economics and finance. Alongside its principal competitor CNBC, it helps set the agenda for global financial news, and its interviews with policymakers and executives frequently move markets and make headlines.