NEWS & VIEWS
April 2016
11
Bloomberg TV: HD improves user experience
How can the HD feed enhance
the channel’s reach or popularity
in the region?
Parry Ravindranathan: We feel
that HD dramatically improves
the overall user experience, espe-
cially considering how our chan-
nel features rich Bloomberg data
and scrolling news on the screen
every day. Important charts and
news items are updated constantly
throughout the day, and the in-
creased pixel density brings out the
overall sharpness offered by HD.
It was important for us to be
one of the first business and fi-
nance news channels to roll out an
HD feed in the region, considering
how many of our distributors are
increasing their line-up of popular
HD content. Looking at the speed
of how consumer technology is
evolving, we are also expecting
HD to become the TV standard
in the coming years. And as we
expand our Bloomberg TV part-
nerships in the region, we see this
as a key selling point for offering
premium, high-quality content to
our viewers.
In February this year, Bloomberg Media Group
launched its HD television feed in Asia-Pacific
— a feat, the company says, made Bloomberg
TV the first business and finance news
channel to go live with an HD signal on cable networks in the region.
With a reach of more than 50 million households, offices and
hotel rooms in 23 countries across Asia-Pacific, what does this
development mean for its viewers? Millette Manalo-Burgos
prompts Parry Ravindranathan, managing director, International,
Bloomberg Media Group, for more details.
professionals for investment deci-
sions. Television is just one of sev-
eral platforms where our news and
data can be accessed, including our
website, mobile applications, radio
and over-the-top (OTT) offering on
Is technology a key asset for
Bloomberg TV? Aside from the
new HD feed, what other tech-
nology enhancements has the
company invested in recently to
enhance its broadcast content
offerings in the region?
Ravindranathan: As a digital-first
media company, technology is
very much part of who we are. In
fact, the news, data and analytics
viewers see on television comes
from the Bloomberg Professional
Service — also known as ‘the ter-
minal’ — which itself is a powerful
technology platform, used by more
than 325,000 business and finance
Apple TV, Amazon TV, Samsung
Smart TV, and so on.
We want to be easily accessible,
whether on-the-move, at home or
in the office, and we are constantly
evolving in order to keep up with
the way people follow content
across each platform throughout
their day. For example, we re-
cently launched a new Asian digital
destination to deliver relevant
content to readers in the region
❝ We believe that business
and finance viewers are
always looking for important
local, regional and global
news content and getting
that mix right is essential
in keeping your audience
engaged. ❞
— Parry Ravindranathan,
Managing Director, International,
Bloomberg Media Group
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and we’ll soon be re-launching
our Japanese-language website.
We’ve embraced some of the latest,
cutting-edge technologies to pow-
er our media platforms and HD is
just one part of that drive.
What advice can you give to
other broadcasters in terms of
offering compelling and inform-
ative business-related content?
Ravindranathan: We believe that
business and finance viewers are
always looking for important local,
regional and global news content,
and getting that mix right is es-
sential in keeping your audience
engaged. With a global news and
media organisation with reporters
in more than 150 bureaus across
73 countries, Bloomberg is in a
fortunate position to constantly
deliver compelling content wher-
ever they are. Broadcasters should
also not be afraid to invest in new
technology as consumer habits are
shifting faster than ever — and at
Bloomberg, we’re always striving to
be ahead of the curve.
What other upcoming develop-
ments/announcements can we
expect from Bloomberg TV in
the coming months?
Ravindranathan: It’s going to be
another exciting year for us — we
came out of last year launching
Bloomberg Television Philippines
with Cignal TV, complementing
our local partner channels in In-
dia, Malaysia and Mongolia. Later
this year, we’ll be embarking on
something that will take television
partnerships to the next level and
showcase the very best of what our
multi-platform model has to offer
— stay tuned as we have some big
announcements coming!
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