Behind the Scenes at Bloomberg Television

By Merrill Knox 

Gabe Sherman examines the evolution of the Bloomberg media empire in the latest issue of New York magazine. Tucked into the piece are a few  interesting details about the television operation:

Under CEO for multimedia Andrew Lack, Bloomberg Television has failed to eat into CNBC’s audience. Last year, talks to partner Bloomberg TV with ABC News broke down. Bloomberg has tried to attract stars, including offering CNBC’s David Faber a mid-six-figure deal. Bloomberg also went after the Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin. Neither could be swayed. Part of the problem is that [Bloomberg News editor in chief Matthew] Winkler remains resistant to adopting some of the entertainment values that could attract an audience.

 

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Last year, producers inserted a clip from The Princess Bride into a segment about the wild volatility in the market. “Winkler went batshit,” one person familiar with the matter said. “He wrote out a note saying that we shouldn’t mix fiction with news.” (“I think news should always be about the facts,” Winkler says. “You shouldn’t mix fiction with nonfiction; it’s oil and water.”)

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