Bloomberg TV to broadcast first-ever presidential debate next month

Bloomberg TV is set to host its first-ever presidential debate next month at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The Oct. 11 debate--part of a partnership with the Washington Post and the local WBIN-TV--will focus solely on the economy. Charlie Rose, the Post's Karen Tumulty and Bloomberg White House correspondent Julianna Goldman will serve as moderators.

The Post and Bloomberg did not announce which candidates will be participating nor the criteria for participation in the debate. CNN, which is hosting another GOP debate on Oct. 18 in Las Vegas, said candidates must reach an average level of support of 2 percent in three separate polls by news organizations published since Sept. 1--which would currently leave Jon Huntsman on the outside looking in.

For Bloomberg, the debate sponsorship is part of a broader push into political media. In the past two years, Bloomberg has expanded its presence in Washington, launching Bloomberg Government--a site that serves as an intersection of government regulation and business news--in January. (Bloomberg also has one of the biggest D.C. bureaus in the news business with roughly 250 production staffers based there.)

While the 2012 debates, to this point, have generated relatively high ratings for the cable networks that have broadcast them, the Bloomberg TV debate is going up against Game 3 of the American League Champion Series. Even if--as now seems likely--New Hampshire's favorite-son baseball franchise, the Boston Red Sox, is a longshot to make it into the postseason at all, there is probably considerable overlap between the fan bases of the GOP and the Texas Rangers, since the defending American league champs have long been associated with a prominent Republican party elder.