[May 04, 2014]

Bloomberg Announces First New Digital-Led, Multi-Platform Brand: Bloomberg Politics

Bloomberg (News - Alert) Media Group CEO Justin B. Smith and Bloomberg News Editor-In-Chief Matthew Winkler today announced Bloomberg Politics - the first in series of new digital-led, multi-platform brands that will live across all Bloomberg platforms. In March, Bloomberg announced a new, broad strategy for consumer media properties, including the development of new digital assets and a multi-platform approach. Bloomberg Politics, the first of the brands being launched under this new direction, will be created, launched, and overseen by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, who will also lead political coverage across all Bloomberg platforms - Web, mobile, television, digital video, print magazines, radio, live events and more.

The series of new Bloomberg brands, including Bloomberg Politics, will deliver Bloomberg coverage in targeted content environments, providing greater depth, context and community for each topic area . Bloomberg Politics will serve as a model to be replicated by the subsequent new brands, most of which will be squarely focused on the global business market. Each of the new brands will be developed through a deep partnership between Bloomberg Media and Bloomberg News, fully leveraging the skills, strengths, and resources of all Bloomberg News bureaus.

Bloomberg Politics initially will consist of a new digital destination on the Bloomberg network and a new daily television show (that will also stream online), which will be hosted by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

Halperin and Heilemann, who are joining Bloomberg this week, have established reputations over their twenty-plus years in the business as two of the most respected and influential political journalists of their generation. Together they will lead a merged team of Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Media reporters and editors in Washington and New York to power Bloomberg Politics, delivering robustpolitical and policy coverage - news, analysis, commentary, narrative, polling, data analytics, and more - eventually spread across all Bloomberg platforms.

"We have a new, aggressive vision for what our media products can be going forward and Bloomberg Politics is the model for how we will be re-architecting our approach to consumer media," said Smith. "Mark and John have a remarkable and unrivaled track record of leading the conversation around American politics in print, online, and on TV. They are also representative of an important new breed of journalist that works seamlessly and prolifically across digital, video, print and live platforms. They bring an extraordinary capacity for immersive storytelling, sharp analysis, and breaking news - and they will help us differentiate our political coverage from a crowded field through a full multi-platform approach."

"Bloomberg Politics represents a significant strengthening of our political and government coverage and underscores our commitment to definitive and exceptional journalism across all our platforms," said Winkler. "Mark and John will work closely with the new leadership of our Washington bureau to break more news and give more visibility to the award-winning reporting at Bloomberg News."

Prior to joining Bloomberg, Mark Halperin served as editor-at-large and senior political analyst for TIME, covering politics and government. Halperin also served a senior political analyst for MSNBC, appearing regularly on Morning Joe and other programs. Previously, Halperin worked for nearly 20 years at ABC News, covering five presidential elections and serving as political director. At ABC, Halperin reported on every major American political story, including working as a full-time reporter covering Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and the Clinton White House. He is the author of The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President and co-author of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008. Halperin received his B.A. from Harvard University and resides in New York City.

Prior to joining Bloomberg, John Heilemann served as national affairs editor for New York magazine and a political analyst for MSNBC. Prior to joining New York, Heilemann was a staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist, covering politics, business, and their intersection. He is the author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates (News - Alert) and the End of the Microsoft Era, which was named by BusinessWeek as one of the best books of 2001, and he hosted a four-part documentary series, Download: The True Story of the Internet, that aired on the Discovery Channel in 2008. Heilemann holds a B.S.J. from Northwestern University and an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Halperin and Heilemann are co-authors of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, Palin and McCain, and the Race of a Lifetime, which chronicled the 2008 presidential election, and its New York Times bestselling sequel, Double Down: Game Change 2012. The first book, Game Change, and was made into an HBO film of the same name, which premiered in 2012 and went on to win five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes. HBO has acquired the film rights to Double Down as well.

About Bloomberg

Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company's strength - delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately - is at the core of the Bloomberg Professional service, which provides real time financial information to more than 319,000 subscribers globally. Bloomberg News, delivered through the Bloomberg Professional service, television, radio, mobile, the Internet and three magazines, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Markets and Bloomberg Pursuits, covers the world with more than 2,400 news and multimedia professionals at 150 bureaus in 73 countries. Headquartered in New York, Bloomberg employs more than 15,500 people in 192 locations around the world.

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