Bloomberg Media revenue up 20 percent, ad revenue up 25 percent

Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens sent out the following on Thursday:

Greetings all.

Although a bit delayed, I am happy to report that through the end of the third quarter in 2022, Bloomberg Media increased its year-to-date total revenue by 20% year over year, highlighted by a 25% increase in total advertising revenue – our ninth consecutive quarter of growth in this critical area. It is yet another quarter of positive financial results amidst increasingly challenging macroeconomic and media industry conditions.

This success should not only increase confidence in our business strategy and operational execution, but further embolden us to make bigger long-term decisions that will drive future growth.

You may have heard that in Q3 we announced important, new elements to our audience-first business strategy shift, charting the course for a modern digital experience for users and brand partners.  In the coming year, we’re ending open-market third-party programmatic ad sales to our audience on Bloomberg.com, we’ve already introduced a new suite of first-party ad targeting products called Audience Accelerator, and we’re working hard on tightening our value proposition and improving our user experience. The teams have also launched smarter ways to better onboard and engage users this year, including the launch of our registration strategy, allowing us to leverage critical first-party to personalize the experience for our audience and provide precision targeting for our advertising partners.

Our most important segment of users, Bloomberg.com subscribers now total more than 450,000, accelerated by the enterprise subscriptions business started earlier this year.  And we continue to find new ways to increase the number of “modern leaders” we connect with across all platforms and all regions of the world.

Below you will note key Q3 2022 revenue metrics, which saw double-digit growth across nearly every area of our increasingly diverse – and global – business model:

Total Media +20%

• Total Advertising +25%
  • Americas +13%
  • APAC +27%
  • Europe +46%
  • MEA +39%
  • Digital Video +34%
• Bloomberg.com Subscriptions +22%
• Events +90%
• Bloomberg Media Distribution  -1%

These results reflect growth in the majority of our key business drivers – advertising, consumer subscriptions and events. In October, we announced a reorganization of the team now-formerly known as Bloomberg Media Distribution, to deliver on the company’s most high-impact partnership opportunities under Chief Partnerships Officer, Nick Sallon. We believe the newly organized Partnerships team and revised strategic direction – focused increasingly on video and audio – is in a strong position to return to revenue growth in the quarters to-come.

Speaking of video, look out for some key new series launches and announcements in early 2023 – led by a strong cast of influential journalists, experts and interested minds.  As the “digital video” revenue growth number (+34%) above reflects, we continue to see strong editorial and commercial opportunity for both our breaking news coverage and our original documentary-style formats.  In fact, a primary driver of market-leading growth is due to the investment we’ve put into the team, the technology, the monetization engine, and the multi-platform distribution video network that allows us to serve and monetize our audiences on whatever platform they desire.

Throughout Q3, we continued to expand globally, announcing expanded TV coverage in Africa, and launched new content verticals, including WorkShift, a destination dedicated to the future of work and the launch of The Big Take – Bloomberg podcast, the very best of Bloomberg’s in-depth, original reporting from around the globe every day . In the early weeks of Q4, we’ve added Bloomberg UK Wealth, a new personal finance-focused effort to help UK consumers make smarter decisions about their money. We also continue to expand the Bloomberg New Economy series of events and solutions to include the New Economy Climate Technology Coalition, as well as the inaugural New Economy Gateway Africa (Morocco) and New Economy Gateway Europe (Ireland) events, both coming in 2023.

There is no way that any of this success would be possible without the help of all our partners internally and externally; so thank you for the trust and support you provide our teams around the world to be their most creative and impactful. And, of course, congratulations to my Bloomberg Media teammates at the heart of yet another successful quarter. Your focused commitment to helping modern business leaders succeed drives the sustainable growth that allows us to keep building, innovating and growing.

No one knows what lies ahead for 2023, but we’re closing out 2022 on a high note, full of optimism that we have the team, the culture, and the strategy to face whatever challenges arise.

Stay generous. Stay ambitious.

– M. Scott Havens