Capital New York

Bloomberg LP media group employees have been informed that the first in a planned suite of "digital-led multi-platform brands," a politics site being developed by high-profile political journalists and "Game Change" authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, both poached by Bloomberg in May with annual salaries reported to be north of $1 million, will debut on October 6 -- 30 days before the 2014 Midterms -- in tandem with a daily half-hour television show hosted by the duo that will air in Bloomberg TV's 5 p.m. timeslot as well as streaming online.

Bloomberg Businessweek editor-in-chief Josh Tyrangiel, who's been working closely with Smith on the media-group strategy, described the show as "much closer to 'Pardon the Interruption' on ESPN than 'Meet the Press,'" according to a partial transcript provided by a source.

"One of our biggest advantages in politics is we are not ideological, we are not a sewer." (Presumably the show will share the name of the site: Bloomberg Politics.)

The next launch in the sequence is expected to be Bloomberg Business, which will align with the content of Businessweek and businessweek.com. There had been talk of launching the business site ahead of Bloomberg Politics in September, but the internal target is now looking more like December, according to sources with knowledge of the roll-out.

Other digital launches in the hopper include Bloomberg Markets, a financial title, and the luxury-oriented Bloomberg Pursuits, which is being overseen by Vanity Fair veteran Chris Rovzar; they will align with the respective print magazines of the same names. A tech site is also being discussed, sources said.

Sen Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will recuse himself from congressional consideration of Comcast's acquisition of Time Warner Cable, because his brother, Robert, was a lead attorney on the deal. A report raised questions about Sen Schumer's impartiality, after The American Lawyer magazine named Robert Schumer, a partner at Paul Weiss, its "Dealmaker of the Week" for his involvement in the sale.

"As Senator Schumer and his brother had never discussed the matter before, the piece in American Lawyer was the first Senator Schumer learned that his brother had worked on the deal," said Max Young, a spokesman for Sen Schumer. "Now that he’s aware of his brother’s involvement, Senator Schumer will recuse himself from Congressional consideration of the matter to avoid any appearance of bias."

Sen Schumer had previously praised the deal, saying Comcast had told him they expected to increase Time Warner's operation in New York, planned to keep New York 1, and were committed to increasing jobs in Buffalo. “While we still need to review the details, it seems like the Time Warner Cable acquisition will be a good deal for New York," Sen Schumer said on Feb 13, shortly after the deal was announced.