If BusinessWeek fails, it's petty cash to Bloomberg

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine talked to magazine consultant Marty Walker about what 2010 holds in store for the industry, and one question focused on the future of BusinessWeek, recently acquired by Bloomberg LP.

Here is an excerpt:

What does the future hold for Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek? Can it return to profitability with the staff cuts and new, more general-interest focus?

Well, what I don’t know is what resources Bloomberg is dedicating to replacing those staffers who were cut, or what Bloomberg plans for its own business magazine, and how they plan to market both of them. I don’t think that Bloomberg wants to turn BusinessWeek into Portfolio.

It’s really too soon to know, but they are very smart people, they have deep pockets, and they were probably the only company in the world that could have possibly saved BusinessWeek.

It’s really a question of how they integrate and share news resources.

And they didn’t pay very much for it, it’s like petty cash. If it doesn’t work it would be a bit of an embarrassment but not a disaster to the bottom line.

Read more here.