Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg –Snapshot
 Est 2008 revenues: $6.1 billion (Silicon Alley Insider)
 Highly profitable – in 2006, operating margin 30%+ (Fortune)
 July ’08 – Merrill Lynch sold back 20% share, valuing company at $22.5
billion
 Privately held - Mike Bloomberg owns 88%
 Bloomberg revenues derived mostly from its terminals – approx 290K
terminals at $1500-1800/mo
 In 2008, terminal net sales down 1,100; In March ‘09, down 2K
 Feb ’09 - first ever layoffs – most in TV/Radio (100)
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Market – Financial Information and Analysis
 Bloomberg 24+% market share to Thomson-Reuters 34% (BurtonTaylor)
 3rd, 4th, 5th ranked companies hold <4% market share
 2009 projected negative 1-3% growth for sector (Burton-Taylor)
 Bloomberg sells hardware at essentially fixed price to deliver info/data
 Thomson Reuters sells info/data with flexible pricing
 Asia strongest globally; note: China recently eased controls on foreign
financial info companies
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg –Products
 Terminal – to access “Bloomberg Professional” service
 Bloomberg TV
 Bloomberg Radio
 Bloomberg Mobile
 Bloomberg Markets Magazine
 Bloomberg Press
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg TV
 24 hour global network
 Reaches 200 million homes worldwide; 47M in US
 Recent layoffs in TV and radio reportedly to “clear the decks” for new
journalist hires
 Feb ’09 – said would cut some foreign language versions, place
emphasis on international and regional channels
 Presumed low ratings (but doesn’t subscribe to Nielsen)
 Elite audience – average HH income $148K, highest of any cable
network (Mendelsohn Affluent Survey)
 Hired David Rhodes, former Fox VP/News – reports to Andy Lack
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg Radio
 US and int’l financial news; interviews with execs, analysts
 Syndicates reports to 840 radio stations worldwide
 On XM/Sirius satellite radio
 On New York market AM station WBBR
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg Markets magazine
 13 issues annually
 $29.95 (sign-up online)
 Circulation: 324,000 – up 4.6% in ’08
 Hired Michael Dukmejian as publisher – former publisher, Fortune and
Money; oversaw CNNMoney.com
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg Mobile
 Delivers news, “Market Snapshots,” world indexes, stock quotes, “Your
Portfolio” (free)
 Delivers live Bloomberg TV ($9.99/mo)
 Free iPhone app (no video yet)
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg Structure
 President: Dan Doctoroff
 Chief Content Officer: Norman Pearlstine – former Editor-in-Chief Time
Inc., former Wall St Journal editor/reporter
 Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg News: Matthew Winkler – ex WSJ reporter
 CEO, Multimedia: Andrew Lack (hired Oct ’08) – former NBC News
president, former Sony/BMG Music head, former CBS News producer
(60 Minutes, West 57th); reports to Doctoroff
 Hired Ien Cheng, former Google director of product management,
former publisher/editor of FT’s Web site
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg News vs Reuters News (Burton Taylor study)
 Bloomberg delivers 11,000 items daily; Reuters 7,500
 Reuters “places greater emphasis on context and analysis”
 Bloomberg sends higher percentage of its news as headline-only
“alerts”
 Note: Thomson Reuters hired former CNN International managing
director Chris Cramer as head of multimedia
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Bloomberg Imperatives
 Expand non-terminal revenue streams
 Broaden mission of Bloomberg TV (has been primarily to promote brand,
terminals): Make money and produce video for multiple platforms
 To compete with CNBC, Fox Business – Lack likely to upgrade early am marketsoriented TV programs
 Develop more non-markets programming
 Needs more high profile on-air talent – unclear whether will build or buy
 Lack says mobile screen is as important as TV, computer screens to Bloomberg
 Enhance live streaming video to mobile devices
 Develop more valued-added content – analysis and perspective
 Bloomberg acknowledges geopolitical content is key
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
Stratfor Imperatives
 Any deal with Bloomberg should meet Stratfor’s strategic, not just tactical goals, e.g.
enhance brand ID as intelligence publisher, help drive paid subscriptions not just traffic
 Evaluate impact of a Bloomberg deal on other potential alliances: Is it worth it?
 Co-branding is critical – don’t let Bloomberg obscure Stratfor brand (and not just Stratfor
brand, but its sub-brands, e.g., Geopolitical Intelligence Report
 Strong global trend toward “sliced and diced” content delivery on multiple platforms –
people access content through links, RSS, widgets rather than just going to the content
producer’s site; so control of brand and packaging of content is key
 The same trend argues against deals based on exclusivity – unless huge premium is paid
(even then, such a deal may not fit strategic imperatives)
 Bloomberg News is a journalistic product; Stratfor is an intelligence product – maintain
differentiation, e.g. be careful about how Stratfor content is integrated into Bloomberg’s
and how Stratfor sources are tapped for Bloomberg
 Make sure Bloomberg shares user data relating to Stratfor products
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Grant Perry
July 16, 2009
Stratfor – Bloomberg
A Few Thoughts on How to Proceed
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Start “small” to test relationship
Initially deliver content that doesn’t require significant additional expenditures
Any content Stratfor provides for free must enable quick signup for free Stratfor content and/or paid
subscriptions
Start by providing Stratfor Insights and Video Insights for Bloomberg Mobile (video sourcing may have to
be non-Reuters) – these should be “tagged” to Bloomberg’s news headlines (contextualize)
Also provide Geopolitical Diary
And provide certain longer reports relating to prime Bloomberg markets, e.g., China, oil and gas; these
would be presented in high-profile environments on Bloomberg platforms
Business model: provide free with appropriate branding and links (or on licensing fee basis, which is
unlikely); share revenues on any ads sold on Stratfor content (Bloomberg will sell, get larger share)
Other possibilities:
 Provide discounted Stratfor subscriptions sold through Bloomberg ; incentivize Bloomberg on
subscription sales – give %
 Co-produce a co-branded television program; use Stratfor people as hosts and experts; production at
Bloomberg studios in New York; share ad revenues (ad sales by Bloomberg)
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