Bauer Media Industry Research

 

Bauer Media Group (Heinrich Bauer Publishing) is a German multimedia conglomerate headquarted in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV station, as well as print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. The company has a workforce of approximately 11,000 in 17 countries.

Bauer Media Group entered the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987.

There audience age range is 18-75

Under the name of H Bauer Publishing they became Britain’s third largest publisher, buying Emap Radio in 2008 and publishing multiple magazine titles including ‘Women’s Weekly’ ‘Bella’ ‘Take a Break, that’s life!, TV choice, and Total TVGuide. They also create puzzle magazines so are catering to a wide audience; and extend their published genres to film magazines such as Empire as well as TV.

They own countless brands and have had a strong cultural impact through their high profile influence.

They launched in 2018 a campaign called 'Where's Your Head At? This campaign strove to ensure parity between the way mental and physical health are treated in workplaces and colleges. Across their 105 brands they campaigned to amke mental health first aid a legal requirement, delivering a 200,000 signature petition to Parliament. They secured a change to workplace and mental health guidelines and continue to use their voice to put a spotlight on the need for a seismic change in society when it comes to support for mental health.

Editions of Heat and Bella represent Bauer’s eclectic and impressive range of publications. They do not focus in on one particular genre but publish film magazines as well as gossip magazines. They do not necessarily favour sophisticated magazines or content over seemingly unsophisticated and casual looking content.

It is interesting to note that Bauer Media’s magazine play into Gatling and Ruge News Values. While magazines such as Empire are there to entertain, magazines such as Heat that inform people of celebrity news use shock factor headlines to draw reader attention. Arguably, Bauer may publish those magazines which it believes are going to grab short-term attention spans. 

 

Bauer Media are also the owner of multiple radio broadcasts, and this shows represents their power as a media conglomerate. Owning Radio Stations such as GB Radio and Great Hits Radio which covers British counties and cities, their influence is transnational and they are far from confined to German media content. This gives them a highly powerful hold over the print and broadcasting industry.

It is also interesting to note that Bauer Media commits to sustainability as well as mental health campaigns. Their promise to only publish with sustainably sourced paper suppliers reflects their care for the environment rather than profit alone; and this is good for a company to demonstrate as socially aware readers will be more likely to buy their published products. As the brief audience is meant to be middle upper class and are likely to be conscious of what their carbon footprint is, I intend to mention an element of sustainability on my website. Their impact also goes further in the fact they promise to ‘use the power of our brands to support and promote the sustainability agenda’. This means that those they have signed a publishing contract with have to interact with their principles to reflect the general zeitgeist of today. Bauer media can be seen as a progressive brand because of this.

Bauer media generates $126.9 million a year; and it is estimated that around 250 million people consume Bauer titles. Bauer Media is continuing to increase their audience hold, with recently in 2015 creating a gardening niche with their publication of Modern Gardens, for an audience who wants to enjoy their outdoor space but are not professional gardeners.

Bauer media is also Europes leading digital commercial radio broadcaster and audio operator. Through its market-leading broadcast radio, online services, and podcasts, it spans 8 countries - the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, and Slovakia. Owning leading brands such as ‘KISS’ ‘Mix Megpol, Radio Nova,’ Bauer’s publications are not only multi-linguistic but also large successes in the places that they are distributed to.

How many people consume Bauer titles? It is estimated around 250 million.

Other publications[edit]

Mother and Baby is parenting website and set of awards aimed at helping parents with advice and product reviews that help them buy well.

The Debrief was an online magazine aimed at ABC1 women in their 20s launched in 2014 in competition with Mail Online and Stylist.^{[citation needed]} It was closed in 2018.

Empire is a monthly film magazine. Launched in the UK in 1989, it is now also published in the US, Australia, Turkey, Russia and Portugal. Its annual Empire Awards are voted for by its readers.^[16]

Closer was launched by Bauer Media in 2002. It specialises mainly in celebrity news and gossip, real-life stories and television/entertainment.^[17]

The UK edition of Grazia was launched in 2005 as the first glossy woman's weekly magazine in the country.^[18]

Launched in 1999, heat is a British celebrity weekly.^[19] Its main focus is celebrity interviews, gossip, fashion advice and entertainment.

Yours is a fortnightly lifestyle magazine and website targeting women aged 50 and over, launched in 1974. It covers issues including health, relevant news, fashion and beauty.^[20]

Motor Cycle News (MCN) launched as a newspaper in 1955. The brand now has an online presence and is a digital business, with sub-brands including MCN compare, a motorcycle insurance comparison service and MCN classified Bikes for Sale. MCN covers news on all major motorcycle sporting events as well as bike and equipment tests.^[21]

Parker's Car Guide is a monthly magazine and, more recently, a website listing prices for new and used cars in the UK. It was founded in 1972 and is the longest-running print price guide in the UK. The website was launched in 1999 and it provides news, advice information as well as cars for sale and additional services such as insurance, to car buyers.^[22]

AM (Automotive Management), together with its online counterpart has been a source of news, insight and analysis for the UK automotive industry since 1990.^[23]

Bauer Media and Careers 

Bauer Media since the pandemic have been working on extending their sessions on mental health training to external companies. Topics span everything from cultivating optimism and personal resilience, to gratitdude practices and recognising anxiety and depression. This is to make workplaces a much more comfortable and accepting environment. Bauer has also recently announced that they will run a ‘WYHA Wellbeing Ambassador’ programme, fostering wellbeing in the workplace. Because of this cultural impact with Bauer, I will try and incorporate a mention to my magazine brand’s reflection of the campaign.