MUMBAI: Bloomberg Television has been launched in Malaysia on pay TV service provider Astro.
The channel will feature up to four hours of localized business news content covering Malaysia's business, economy and financial markets.
Bloomberg Television Malaysia will debut with a weekday flagship evening news program, Moving Malaysia, broadcast live at 6 pm from its state-of-the art studios in Kota Damansara. Presented by lead anchor Sophie Kamaruddin, the program will feature comprehensive coverage of top business news stories from Malaysia and around the world.
“The local business community is underserved in terms of dedicated business news avenues. Recognizing that information is crucial for businesses, Bloomberg TV Malaysia offers the business community real-time business news and information. This is the first and only international business news channel to be localized for the Malaysian audience, and we are pleased to work together with Bloomberg and Astro in making this channel a reality,” said Bloomberg TV Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Mohd Effendi Norwawi.
Part of Bloomberg’s strategic expansion into key markets, the new channel combines localized content with Bloomberg’s expertise in international news gathering to deliver high quality, in-depth coverage of Malaysia’s business and economic developments.
“Malaysia is one of ASEAN’s key economies and there is a compelling long-term story of development to be told as the country works towards its 2020 vision. We see continued interest in its economic journey from within and outside of Malaysia, and now have a platform for Malaysia's market makers and business leaders to provide insight into the country's ongoing development,” said Bloomberg Media Asia-Pacific managing director Parry Ravindranathan.
“The addition of localised content delivered by Bloomberg TV Malaysia on Astro allows for the broadcast of reliable local news and business insights. We are excited to debut our coverage of market moving stories catering to Malaysia’s growing demographic of business news consumers,” added Bloomberg Television Malaysia CEO Michael Chan.
Overseeing operations is industry veteran Richard Lewis, who joined as executive producer. Lewis, with almost 30 years' experience in broadcast, was previously executive producer at Al Jazeera English in Qatar and writer and producer for ITN in London.
