NEW YORK -- Michael Bloomberg told members of his company’s Washington bureau Thursday that he doesn't expect Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann to remain with the news organization after the 2016 election, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
Bloomberg suggested that the high-profile journalists, co-authors of the best-selling, fly-on-the-wall accounts of the 2008 and 2012 elections, Game Change and Double Down, would likely leave to write another book on the 2016 contest.
The May 2014 hiring of Halperin and Heilemann, for a reported $1 million each, was part of financial news and data company's expansion into more consumer-facing digital and TV projects, such as the Bloomberg Politics site and the pair's daily insidery political show, "With All Due Respect." Some Washington-based Bloomberg News staffers felt marginalized by the changes and shift of power to New York, where Halperin and Heilemann are based.
During his conversation Thursday with bureau staffers, Bloomberg also playfully nicknamed the pair “Haldeman and Ehrlichman,” a reference to H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, two Nixon administration officials embroiled in the Watergate scandal.
Halperin and Heilemann didn't immediately respond for comment.
A Bloomberg spokeswoman didn't comment specifically on the hosts' future plans, but praised their output this election cycle.
"With All Due Respect is a valuable part of our lineup," the spokeswoman said. "We're very pleased with the show's performance and the great work that Mark and John are doing throughout this election."
Bloomberg has been said in the past to have mixed feelings about Halperin and Heilemann's show. “Some days he thinks what they do is good and other days isn’t,” a Bloomberg adviser told New York magazine in October. “But ultimately it doesn’t fit the mission of what he wants to do with the television network.”
The adviser told the magazine that Bloomberg doesn’t want to renew their contact after the election.
Following three terms as New York City mayor, Bloomberg returned to his namesake company as CEO in September 2014 and oversaw a shift back toward an increased focus on core coverage areas like global business and finance. Some top executives spearheading the expansion into consumer-facing products before Bloomberg's return have since left the company.
In October, Bloomberg publicly expressed support for Bloomberg Politics in response to the New York magazine report.
“I’ve become a devotee of Bloomberg Politics,” he said. “It’s an important part of our TV line-up and our strategy, giving our customers the news and people they need going into election season. I fully support it.”
Bloomberg staffers have long assumed Halperin and Heilemann would write another book after the election, though none has yet been announced. They reportedly received a $5 million advance for “Double Down,” the sequel to the “Game Change,” which was also made into an HBO film.
If Halperin and Heilemann were to leave Bloomberg, they're likely to have other TV options. The pair are regulars on NBC and MSNBC, which now re-airs “With All Due Respect” at 6 p.m. And they also star in a “documentary-style "Showtime" series chronicling the 2016 election.
