Bloomberg Television Adds 'Beyond the Boardroom' to Primetime

Tisch's interview show to follow 'Charlie Rose' on Fridays

By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/26/2010 8:00:00 AM

Bloomberg Television is expanding its primetime block on Fridays, adding Jonathan Tisch’s interview program Beyond the Boardroom to the line-up.

Beginning May 28, Beyond the Boardroom with Jonathan Tisch will air Fridays at 9 p.m. after Charlie Rose. (On Bloomberg, Rose's PBS program airs Monday through Friday at 8 p.m.)  Beyond the Boardroom will re-run throughout the weekend. The debut installment features Tisch’s interview with restaurant mogul Danny Meyer.

The show is actually in its sixth season on lifestyle channel Plum TV and it will continue to air there. But getting the nod from Bloomberg, says Tisch and being able to follow uber-interviewer Rose, “is quite remarkable.”

“It’s my sincere hope that the viewers will stay through Charlie Rose and certainly not be disappointed when they get to Beyond the Boardroom,” he says.

Tisch, who is CEO of Loews Hotels and co-chairman of Loews Corporation, also will join Bloomberg’s stable of contributing editors appearing on the network’s various business programs to discuss the travel and tourism industry.

He’s also treasurer of the New York Giants and was in Dallas yesterday to make the successful pitch for the 2014 Super Bowl on behalf of the New Meadowlands Stadium. But he cautions that he’s not giving up his day jobs.

“There are many talented journalists at outlets like CNBC and Bloomberg and Fox Business,” he says. “And I am not trying to take their jobs. What we’re doing is allowing the viewer to eavesdrop on a conversation between two contemporaries.”

Indeed, in six seasons on Plum TV, Tisch has created a CEO salon of sorts, wheedling personal details from the likes of NBC Universal’s Jeff Zucker, former Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO Susan Lyne, New York Daily News publisher and real estate baron Mort Zuckerman and fashion designer Vera Wang.

“It’s the only show on TV where CEOs are being interviewed by another CEO,” observes Tisch. “This is an enlightening conversation with people that control a lot of jobs and in many ways are creating models that will allow us to grow our economy and get through these very difficult economic times.”

Tisch says one of his favorite interviews was fellow hotelier Ian Schrager, because they not only got to “talk shop,” but Schrager also regaled Tisch with stories from the ribald Studio 54 days. On the docket for the upcoming season:  Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and current CEO of Square; David Sokol, chairman and CEO of NetJets; NYSE chief Duncan Niederauer; and Stephen Sadove, CEO of Saks Incorporated. Tisch is also working on wrangling CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves and Disney CEO Bob Iger.

The conversations are generally friendly. Tisch points out that he’s not trying to hardball anyone. And so far no one has ripped off their lapel mic and stormed off the set.

“I am not an investigative journalist. But I have tried when there are difficult situations to ask a fair question. It’s not all fluff. But I’m also not trying to embarrass anyone,” he says. “I try to be fair and at the same time elicit interesting responses. I hope that the viewer will walk away from watching the show and say they learned something.”