Bloomberg LP, a privately held company started by Michael Bloomberg, who is currently New York City’s mayor, expects to take control of the magazine by year’s end. That ends BusinessWeek’s 80-year run as part of McGraw-Hill Cos., which owns the Standard & Poor’s credit-rating agency.
New York-based McGraw-Hill put BusinessWeek on the auction block in July, apparently fed up with losses that have been mounting at the magazine as its advertising revenue plunged.
The acquisition represents one of Bloomberg’s boldest and possibly riskiest attempts to extend its audience beyond its main mode of communication: the 300,000 electronic terminals that it has set up in the offices of money managers, traders, bankers, and other financial services professionals worldwide.
“BusinessWeek helps better serve our customers by reaching into the corporate suite and corridors of power in government, where news that affects markets and business is made by CEOs, CFOs, deal lawyers, bankers, and government officials, who typically are not terminal customers,’’ said Daniel L. Doctoroff, Bloomberg’s president.
Like many print publications, BusinessWeek has been reeling from a one-two punch: the longest US recession since World War II and a massive shift in media consumption that has driven more advertising online, where the prices are generally much lower than in print.
BusinessWeek also has been trying to figure out how a weekly magazine can remain relevant at a time when financial and corporate news is plastered all over the Web, around the clock. To cope, BusinessWeek has sharpened its focus on its corporate audience and trimmed its coverage of general-interest topics, such as sports and culture.
