bloomberg television first launched in the united states on january 1, 1994 under the name bloomberg information tv, before it was shortened to its current name in 1998. shortly after bloomberg's launch, the now-defunct american independent network carried a simulcast of the channel at various times each weekday from 1995 to 1997, which was picked up by some broadcast stations in early morning periods to provide a "de facto" morning business show. the network's morning pre-opening bell programming was also aired on the usa network, simulcasted in a paid programming arrangement with the channel until 2004, when that network dropped the simulcast months before the nbc universal merger was consummated, due to concerns that usa would then air the coverage of a competitor to future sister network cnbc. the simulcast then moved to e! (which became nbcuniversal-owned in january 2011 due to that company's purchase by comcast), where it remained until the simulcast ended in january 2009, when the network had expanded its reach on digital cable systems enough to discontinue the simulcast. during its time on e!, the 5–8 a.m. block was the most watched period for the network, according to nielsen media research.