Bloomberg rebrands its video news network TicToc

Bloomberg Media is rebranding its social video news network TicToc, to QuickTake by Bloomberg. In preparation for the launch of a streaming news channel in 2020, QuickTake by Bloomberg will merge with Bloomberg's existing digital video operations, adding a full team of producers and editors to its newsroom to become one editorial studio.

According to Bloomberg, the rebrand is a strategic evolution of the existing Bloomberg QuickTake brand, known for explaining timely topics to Bloomberg's business and financial audience primarily on the Bloomberg Terminal. QuickTake by Bloomberg will combine TicToc's shorter, one-to two-minute immediate reactions to news and global stories with Bloomberg's digital video operations, which currently produces five-to ten-minute, longer-form narratives.

Meanwhile according to Variety, the rebrand was also partly to avoid confusion with TikTok, the popular social video app from ByteDance. Variety added that there are similarities of the names and that TikTok "has been a factor" in the rebranding. Launched in 2017, TicToc has expanded onto various social platforms and screens, reaching over 90 million monthly views across platforms. Bloomberg Media is the consumer-facing media organisation of Bloomberg LP.

CEO of Bloomberg Media, Justin Smith, said with a combined editorial video studio and greater resources, QuickTake by Bloomberg will continue to innovate the way news is delivered to cover the modern social news cycle at the pace of global news today.

"Streaming video is a key priority for Bloomberg Media's growth strategy as we see bright opportunity in the OTT space, especially in the world of news," he added.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg's editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said both brands deliver smart, concise context to explain the news. Also, the newly aligned QuickTake digital video studio will be a powerful asset in a world where the number of platforms for high-quality video is multiplying, he added.