Bloomberg Media has launched Bloomberg Quicktake, the latest in a series of free, ad-supported, connected TV-first initiatives by big media companies. The streaming news network is launching with 10 1/2 hours of daily programming, including 10 original series and 4 daily news shows. The editorial focus will be broad, including business, technology, culture, society, personal finance, politics, climate and the business of sports, food, travel and entertainment.

Importantly, from a distribution standpoint, Bloomberg Quicktake will be available on all the major CTV platforms, including Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Samsung TV. It will also be available within streaming services like Samsung TV Plus, Tubi and Xumo in the upcoming weeks. Launch sponsors include American Express and AT&T Business.

In an interview during VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Summit in September, Bloomberg Media’s Chief Growth Officer and Global Head of Strategic Partnerships Scott Havens shared details of how CTV-focused distribution was always in the business plan for Bloomberg Quicktake, which originally launched in 2017 as a social news network.

Scott elaborated on why he believes ad-supported CTV and OTT is the most exciting place to be over the next 5-10 years, why Bloomberg Media is leaning in aggressively and also how many viewers are not currently connected to a business news brand (see interview below).

Bloomberg Quicktake is tapping into Bloomberg Media’s roster of 2,700 journalists in 120 countries around the world. Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith said Bloomberg Quicktake “disrupts the traditional broadcast TV news model - from the types of stories it covers to the modern look and feel of the network, and the distribution centered around social and streaming.” It will have formats including documentary-style original series, anchor-led live news show, data visualizations, motion graphics and breaking news and live events.

In the not so distant past, high profile initiatives like NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Bloomberg Quicktake would have been pitched as linear TV networks to pay-TV operators for carriage deals, which would have been augmented with advertising revenue. But in the era of cord-cutting, new launches with this dual revenue approach are virtually impossible (though note Peacock does offer subscription tiers while Bloomberg Quicktake does not).

Instead, like Peacock, Bloomberg Quicktake rides on 2 major industry trends: advertisers’ desire to shift their spending to premium OTT services with strong audience targeting, and consumers’ continued embrace of connected TVs as their primary screen for longer viewing sessions. The pandemic has accelerated these trends. Robust Q3 earnings results from industry leaders like Roku and The Trade Desk last week helped quantify how meaningful the shifts are.

With Bloomberg Media’s vast resources behind it, Bloomberg Quicktake looks like a very smart move. And no doubt there will be many more free, ad-supported, CTV-first initiatives yet to come.