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Friday, November 20, 2009

Bloomberg To Close Bloomberg Press Unit

By Jon Friedman

MarketWatch

NEW YORK -- Bloomberg L.P. plans to close its Bloomberg Press operation, a small unit that publishes books, following its acquisition of BusinessWeek magazine, spokeswoman for the parent company said on Friday afternoon.

The division published a handful of titles a year and had eight staffers. Bloomberg hopes to place the employees elsewhere in its company.

Bloomberg is going through a transition of sorts. It acquired BusinessWeek from McGraw-Hill (MHP) and expects to spend enough money to make BusinessWeek successful.

One of Bloomberg's objectives is to increase its stature and profile on Main Street. It already is a powerhouse in Wall Street trading rooms. Its array of data and news is deemed invaluable by Wall Street professionals and the company wants to broaden its readership beyond securities and money-management professionals.

Bloomberg was founded by Michael Bloomberg, who was recently elected to a third term as the mayor of New York.

The company is well known for being a dogged competitor in the news-gathering universe. It reflects its founder's dedication to pursuing success.

The question is whether Bloomberg can use its founder's name and reputation to become a greater force in consumer businesses -- one of its goals these days. Bloomberg's books division was never regarded as a major force in the industry. It published technical books for the most part -- "inside baseball" vehicles for people who work on Wall Street.

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you think Bloomberg can become a greater force in consumer journalism?

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