Bauer marches on with radio land grab as it launches seven new stations
Bauer Media has launched seven radio stations, spinning off IPs from existing brands Kiss FM, Heat and Kerrang Radio as it endeavours to broaden its offerings for listeners.
Bauer Media launches seven new radio stations and Kiss Life podcast series
The new channels include Kiss Dnce, Kiss Garage and Kiss Ibiza. Bauer has also launched Klassic Kerrang, Radio, Kerrang Radio Unleashed, Heat Radio School Disco and Heat Radio Soundtracks.
Bauer has also produced a Kiss podcast in association with The Prince's Trust called Kiss Life: Let's Talk About. The series digs into issues that young people face today - from gangs to exam stress, that will be released monthly.
The launches follow on a number of new station debuts from the media company this year, including Country Hits Radio, Scala and Jazz FM, indicating its newfound confidence in the audio market.
Earlier this week, Bauer said it was relaunching its own instream audio advertising solution, moving away from DAX.
Bauer Media's chief revenue officer Simon Kilby told The Drum back in April that he believed commercial radio had never been more attractive to advertisers.
“There has been an explosion in listening hours via digital devices such as smart speakers which are up 268.1%," he explained. "Combine that with radio offering a trusted and brand-safe environment, advertisers are rapidly waking up to the value and its ability to build brands long-term.”
Earlier this year, the media company also snapped up a number of regional radio licences, with the acquisitions of UKRD (722,000 listeners) in March and Wireless Local (850,000 listeners), Celador and Lincs (1.1 million between both) in February.
Discussing the launch of the seven new stations, Dee Ford, group managing director at Bauer Radio said: “Anticipating consumer behaviour informs our content and distribution strategy. It’s exactly what has underpinned the roaring success of Kisstory.
"The new digital station launches and Kiss podcast provide even greater choice for our audiences who seek more from the brands they love. Creating an even deeper more tailored listening experience, they also provide exciting new opportunities for advertisers seeking highly engaged valuable audiences.