Profile: Media Watch - Bloomberg TV goes eyeball-to-eyeball for viewer numbers

With the early morning slot peak-time viewing in the world of financial broadcasting, it was a coup for Bloomberg Television to entice respected CNBC anchor Bernard Lo over to sit alongside Catherine Yang for Bloomberg Live.

Lo has built a strong reputation during his seven years with CNBC. Bloomberg hopes that by pairing him up with Yang, named best news anchor for the third time in a row at the Asian Television Awards, it has created a winning combination.

In markets such as the US, the transfer of news presenters can have a huge impact on viewership, explains Christina Wong, business director of ZenithOptimedia in Hong Kong: "We have yet to see if this is the same in Asia."

Bloomberg Television and CNBC are arch-rivals fighting for the eyeballs of high-powered and high-spending business people the world over, and Asia is no exception. Both are pursuing a similar distribution strategy in Asia, initially amassing large potential audiences by securing time slots on local terrestrial channels. Japan, for instance, accounts for almost half of Bloomberg's reach, broadcasting into more than 27 million homes, but less than five per cent of these can receive Bloomberg 24 hours a day. "It remains a battle between the two channels on viewership," Wong says.

Bloomberg has continued to expand in Asia in 2004, gaining its first all-day slot in Singapore on StarHub CableTV, a deal which should net more viewers, and securing an addititional all-day slot in Hong Kong, on digital network exTV. However, it is not clear whether this tie-up will connect Bloomberg with many new viewers as exTV, a subscription service, is still in its infancy.

CNBC gained the upper hand in Asia by beating Bloomberg to market. Although Bloomberg broadcasts to many of the key financial centres in Asia, it still has holes to fill in its network, most notably in India, where CNBC India has been broadcasting for five years.

However, the broadcaster remains confident of victory, positioning itself as unique among rival news channels by focusing exclusively on finance.

"You won't find films, sports or entertainment-type shows on our channel," says Bloomberg's director of international media, Trevor Fellows. "We believe that the key to success is to stick to what you know best."