Bloomberg Businessweek, a weekly magazine for the past 94 years, is going monthly, the company told staff members on Thursday.
The magazine will be redesigned with “heavier paper stock for a more high-end look and feel” and relaunched as a monthly print publication “later in 2024,” according to a memo from David Merritt and Katie Boyce, two leaders of Bloomberg’s media division, that was viewed by The New York Times.
There was no indication in the memo that the Businessweek name would change.
“The market for a weekly newsmagazine has been challenging for some time,” the memo said. “But we see demand in both digital and print for the ambitious long-form journalism Businessweek is now well known for.”
Businessweek was a struggling brand when Bloomberg bought it in 2009. The company renamed the magazine Bloomberg Businessweek, and its bold and provocative covers generated a surge of renewed interest. But it has not avoided the persistent headwinds facing all print publications, including ever-declining circulation and lower advertising revenue.
Mr. Merritt and Ms. Boyce said Bloomberg Businessweek was reaching “millions of new people every week” through Apple News+, a subscription offering that gives access to digital publications with paywalls, “with revenue from that partnership helping offset print declines.” It will continue to publish content on Bloomberg.com and operate as a brand in audio, events and video.
Bloomberg Businessweek’s editor, Joel Weber, will move to a new role in the newsroom when his replacement is found, the note said.
Bloomberg L.P., the parent company of the Bloomberg media arm, makes the vast majority of its revenue through its subscription terminal service, which provides news and financial data. In recent years, the company has sought to attract a new audience of subscribers through its website and other digital products. In 2018, it added a paywall to Bloomberg.com, which has more than 500,000 paid digital subscribers.
Early next year, the company will introduce a digital weekend product featuring video, audio and long-form journalism and expanded cultural coverage, the memo on Thursday said.
Bloomberg Media’s chief executive, M. Scott Havens, announced on Monday that he would leave the organization, which he had helmed since January 2022, to become the chief executive of the New York Mets. Karen Saltser, the chief financial and operating officer of Bloomberg Media, was named interim chief executive while a search is underway for Mr. Haven’s replacement.
Katie Robertson
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