Tag Archives: bauer media

Media Week: H Bauer and Bauer Media in joint bid for BBC magazines

Bauer Media and H Bauer have reportedly joined forces in a bid for BBC Magazines – the first major link-up of the two Bauer businesses in more than three years.

H Bauer, whose titles include Take A Break, bought Emap’s consumer magazine and radio division – including Grazia, Heat and Q – in a £1.14bn deal in December 2007 and renamed the division Bauer Media. But until now, the two parts of the business have remained very separate.

Now, according to Media Week, the two Bauers are in joint talks about buying BBC Worldwide’s 50 magazine titles, which are up for sale.

BBC titles such as Radio Times would sit comfortably in the H Bauer stable alongside TV Choice, while titles such as Top Gear are firmly in Bauer Media territory.

A BBC Magazines spokeswoman said the company hoped to draw up a shortlist of a bidders in the coming weeks and finalise any deal in the summer.

Any sale would need the approval of the BBC Trust, which is due to announce the appointment of its new chairman shortly.

Sample of Bauer Media’s new men’s mag out today

Bauer Media has announced that the pilot issue of its new men’s magazine, Gaz7etta, will be available from today. More than 500,000 copies are being distributed within magazines including Q and Empire, newspapers such as Metro and City AM and other partnerships.

This one-off issue of Gaz7etta provides successful men with a unique combination of the key news stories of the week and all the latest lifestyle trends and products. Gaz7etta’s mission is to identify, decode and contextualise the key stories that are driving the world they live and work in.

Freelancers step up campaign against Bauer contracts

Freelancers at Bauer Media are continuing to protest against new contracts which they claim remove copyright from contributors.

The freelancers say that Q and Kerrang! started enforcing the contract yesterday. “Freelances who haven’t signed can’t get work from either title as of now,” the group said, via Twitter.

Tonight (5 May) there will be a meeting for all Bauer contributors in London. Details can be found at http://www.londonfreelance.org/fl/1005grab2.html.

Last week the National Union of Journalists, which is supporting the campaign, said that over 200 freelance journalists are challenging the new contracts. “The impasse has reached crisis point,” says the NUJ.

For the back story and Bauer’s own statement, issued last month, follow this link.