Bloomberg TV wraps new nighttime series with Anna Wintour expose

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

It's been five months since Bloomberg TV launched its evening documentary series, "Game Changers," profiling rich and powerful moguls and celebrities. And it appears the budding business network has saved the best for last with tonight's season finale: famously icy Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Wintour, whose name has topped the masthead of the renown Conde Nast style glossy since the late '80s, declined to participate in the 30-minute mini-documentary. But that didn't stop a panoply of magazine and fashion industry insiders from weighing in on her behalf for the episode. Bloomberg TV shared some snippets with The Cutline.

"Anna is someone who responds to competitiveness in a way that you wish everyone did," says Conde Nast chief executive Chuck Townsend. "She doesn't get angry; she gets even."

"Is she warm and fuzzy?" asks former Vogue publisher Tom Florio. "No. Why should she have to be?"

On Wintour's editorial acumen, "Most editors don't think beyond their title," says Women's Wear Daily editor-in-chief Ed Nardoza. "But Anna thinks about the world and how it impacts the title, also how the title can impact the world."

And as for Wintour's contribution to fashion, take it away, Vera Wang: "She's not here just to say whether a dress looks nice or not, or whether a new shoe is groovy enough. She's really there to encourage the entire industry ... This is her legacy as well, she is a woman that brought fashion really to big business and to the world, globally."

With "Game Changers," Bloomberg TV has attempted to broaden its reach in the evening, well after the crowd of financial professionals who watch the network's dayside programming have left their offices and trading-room floors for the day. CNBC, the dominant business news network, made significant inroads in the prime time demographic by developing nighttime documentaries on topics such as porn and pot that appeal to the youthful audience favored by advertisers. Bloomberg TV's answer was to create a show that would spotlight people like Wintour, Jay-Z, Jon Stewart and Mark Zuckerberg--four of the 12 subjects featured on the first season of "Game Changers."

So did it work?

Executives for Bloomberg TV declined to comment through a spokeswoman, and viewership numbers are not available since the network is not rated by the Nielsen Company. Nor would the network confirm whether there will be a second season.

But the spokeswoman pointed out that the show has been a boon to web traffic. Last October's episode on Apple chief Steve Jobs, for instance, is the second most viewed video of all time on Bloomberg.com, she said. The network is expected to unveil further additions to its evening programming this year.

In the meantime, the "Game Changers" finale airs tonight at 8 p.m. EST.