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Bloomberg TV’s First Debate A Home Run

by Tommy Christopher | 1:24 pm, October 12th, 2011

» 28 comments

There may be some argument over who was the winner of last night’s Bloomberg/The Washington Post Republican Presidential Debate, but from a media perspective, one victor is crystal-clear: Bloomberg TV. Hosting their first-ever televised debate, the finance-centric news network made the most of the opportunity, creating (and sticking to) a format that was right in its wheelhouse, and leveraging the new media effectively to compensate for its relative lack of broadcast reach.

The debate was everything a debate is supposed to be, with an appealing roundtable format, and a limited subject matter, the economy, that the moderators did not deviate from. You can always second-guess the questions and followups, but overall, they were substantive, on-topic, and eschewed the theatrics of some of the prior debates. There was no “this or that” silliness, and Newt Gingrich didn’t once have to scold the moderators. The tone was so substantive that even the innovative candidate-to-candidate questioning didn’t devolve into a slap-fight. While the relative lack of fireworks was disappointing from the perspective of good copy that writes itself, the debate was a refreshing change of pace for political observers weary of superficiality.

From a media standpoint, though, Bloomberg showed a keen understanding of how new media can level the playing field for a network that’s available in far fewer homes (around 70 million) than its debate competitors. Their PR team kept the press updated regularly leading up to the debate, and in a simple, build-a-better-mousetrap stroke of genius, emailed near real-time transcript updates to media outlets, about every 5 minutes. It was a canny move that showed an understanding of how the new media operates, and how it could help their debate gain more exposure. Their competitors should take note for future debates.

A Bloomberg spokesman told Mediaite, ”We’re pleased that we delivered exactly what we said we would: a substantive debate focused solely on the number one issue in this election, the economy.”

While Bloomberg isn’t a Nielsen client, they did provide Mediaite with several metrics that help to illustrate how successful this debate was for them. Although a relative newcomer to social media (they increased their presence in late 2010/early 2011), they created a successful Twitter hashtag, #econdebate, that scored nearly 100,000 mentions during the debate, and Bloomberg TV & Charlie Rose were top trending terms nationally on Twitter.

Additionally, according to Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg.com saw a record amount of traffic last night. Based on preliminary data, page views to the Bloomberg.com home page were up about 80% than the average during the 8PM hour. The number of people using Bloomberg.com’s live stream player to watch the Bloomberg/Washington Post debate was the highest on record, quintupling the old mark.

Google Trends showed three debate-related topics (“999,” “New Hampshire debate” and “Mitt romney”) among the top 20 items trending on Google. Google confirmed to Bloomberg that having a grouping of three topics appear on Google trends at any one time is rare, and indicates that the debate made major news, and millions of Americans are waking up and seeking more information on the topic.

Although Bloomberg TV isn’t quite the household name that Fox News or CNN are, their presentation and marketing of this debate were anything but bush league. Their bigger competitors could learn a thing or two from them.

Bloomberg, Bloomberg TV, GOP debate, Republican Debate, Washington Post

Anonymous

Its a home run, because they were not asked tricky questions like, “what do you read”?
Anonymous

Its a home run, because they were not asked tricky questions like, “what do you read”?
Exgoper

And the audience was able to keep from booing soldiers and cheering death.
Anonymous

Says a lot about Fox and CNN/Tea Party regarding screening their audience.
D L

For the last time, a couple of assholes booed the gay soldier and letting a person die, not the whole audience.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles

Home run ? I couldn’t find it. My rabbit ears couldn’t find the signal & no one said where it was. Of course I couldn’t really care less. Donald Duck could be running against Obama and I’d vote for Donald Duck. I’ve had enough of all of them anyway. I did hear Newt hit a home run. Having all the baggage in the world as with Newt I’d still vote Newt. This from a white Obama voter.
Anonymous

I do like the round table format. Things are a little more relaxed and the candidates can look at each other when addressing them, instead of having to look down a row of other candidates.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LDO6LIQBI2JQ4Q5MWLWBKGKSJY bensanity

It was a great debate (definitely had to look up what Sarbanes-Oxley meant), if only Time Warner Cable had Bloomberg in HD *sigh*.
Anonymous

I couldn’t get it to stream right, but toward the end it started coming in better. I liked the round table and the give and take. I thought Romney and Gingrich did the best in the debate. They handle themselves well. I will not decide until time to vote but at this point it is Cain. I simply like his stand on the issues and that he accually has a good plan. Gingrich would be next but he is just too far behind to have a chance but then I have been saying that about Cain until recently.
The Real Royal Emperor

Chalie Rose would have kicked them out. A real gentleman is he. A journalist, too. What a welcome change from FOX “News” and other cable ‘news” efforts.
The Real Royal Emperor

I thought Tollbooth has left at some point. He was do relaxed, withdrawn, out of it.
The Real Royal Emperor

I can’t understanhd why he can’t explain 9-9-9.
RW

“…millions of Americans are waking up”

Yep. I would say this experiment in socialism has woken many Americans up. Can’t wait for November 2012.
The Real Royal Emperor

I would have thought the fact that it was a Bloomberg debate might clue you in. Actually, that’s snarky. I wish Bloomberg had more coverage. To be sure, I’d still be a CNBC guy, like most business people throughout the world, but Bloomberg gives a valuable perspective. And, I am very fond of Charlie Rose.
Anonymous

Did you watch the debate? There was somebody in the audience who yelled out and interrupted. Charlie ignored him. Just as previous moderators ignored unwarranted outbursts from their audiences.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BFTDLBEPLFER2WNW36CRTXRPYY Valerie

This was probably the most professional debate yet
Guest

I saw a photo of an anarchist, a guy shitting on the American flag, and a video of a women holding a sign and preaching Marxism at the OWS demonstration….Why do all you left wingers shit on flags and police cars and love anarchy and socialism?
Guest

Or nuances of our military obligations pertaining to allied countries who are members of NATO in fantasy worse case scenarios. They remembered to ask Palin that in 08 while asking Obama if he thought his parents would be proud of his success in the primaries.
MC

The debate was the most biased one I’ve ever seen. The “moderators” were trying to beat up on the candidates for not wanting to raise taxes – especially that old bitty whose name escapes me. That and other little anti-Republican jabs throughout the event. What a farce. Anyway, Newt won as usual. I’d vote him as President any day, baggage or not.
Roger_Fails

Anarchists $hit on the country at parades.

Republicans do it every day in Washington.
Norbit

That was a fair, balanced, and well-written article, Tommy.

Keep up the good work and there may be a seat at FOX with your name on it!
Anonymous

Is Charlie Rose an alcoholic?
The Real Royal Emperor

Maybe you can get David Vitter to run with him. A pervert and deviant ticket!
gordonbloyershow

You are fond of Castro too. I love that photo of you and Chavez you have hanging in your kitchen. Where do you keep Mao’s Red Book and Das Kapital?
gordonbloyershow

Nicknames only work when people can identify what the hell you are talking about. Tollbooth and Willard must be your dogs. Only you can make up nicknames that have no connection to the people you THINK you are talking about. When I say RRK the King of Liars, everyone knows who I am talking about.
Anonymous

I’m not exactly following what you said.
CarmanK

In addition, they had Charlie Rose and other extraordinary moderators who knew how to hold a conversation.
LarryB

If you enjoy a small group of unelected people deciding for you who the frontrunners are, then you probably loved this debate. Bloomberg/Washington Post decided themselves that Gary Johnson would be muzzled, even though the former New Mexico governor has a strong record on economic issues and brings some refreshingly new views to the table of tired old ideas. Then, they tilted the conversation strongly toward Perry, Romney and Cain, trying their best to force these three down our throats. As usual, Ron Paul was among those given the least amount of time. The round-table debate was a good idea, but the post-debate show was amateurish at best. Of course they didn’t even mention Cain’s blatant lie about the FED, although anyone who bothered to do their own fact check could easily find Cain’s online opposition to an audit of the Federal Reserve. Cain lied with a straight face, Bloomberg/WaPo either missed it or chose to ignore it.