Magic to go national and Kisstory to extend UK reach amid Bauer Media commercial overhaul
Bauer Media is undergoing a commercial overhaul in a bid to simplify its range of radio brands for the market and will refocus its offering around Magic, Kiss and Absolute Radio as its three core brands.
Moving: Magic will launch national on DAB digital radio
The changes will also bring development to its Place portfolio of local TV stations, with core local channels such as Liverpool’s Radio City to follow the pattern of spin-off channels such as Kiss’s Kisstory and Kiss Fresh. Local channels will now have two brand extensions, one for older listeners and one for younger, in order to broaden demographic commercial reach.
Meanwhile, Magic will go national on DAB digital radio in January 2015, taking it outside of its London audience, while Kisstory will launch on DAB in various UK cities including London and Birmingham.
Absolute Radio, which was acquired by Bauer last year, will be “grown under Bauer’s leadership”, the company said.
Dee Ford, group managing director, said: “This strategy marks a new era for Bauer Media’s radio brands.
“Our aim is to accelerate our significant lead in digital listening, growing our audiences both nationally and locally while making it easy for customers to access those scaled valuable audiences.
“Significant investment in content, talent, marketing and platforms is underpinned with the energy and drive of the Bauer Radio team.”
Recent Rajar figures showed that more than 50 per cent of Bauer Radio brand listeners now tune in digitally, and company is aiming to capitalise on its digital audience while simplifying its offering for advertisers.
The shake-up follows the creation of a consortium including Bauer Media, UTV Media and Arqiva in July to collectively bid to run a second national DAB multiplex licence in the UK.