What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Bauer Media (Which is a sub-category from Bauer Media Group, the conglomerate, that started in 1953 with the launch of Angling Times) has grown due to it using digital media technology, to quote Marcus Rich, “Magazine chiefs urge industry change from burning platform to growth.” This is to support the fact that for a media institution to grow it must make use of digital media, a prime example of this is Bauer Media. This is supported by the fact that their audience reach has increased by 9.4% when taking PC owners into account.

Magazines have still not faded into obscurity however, as 37.7 million consume magazines brands across print and digital, almost 3 quarters consume in either print or digital. However, as Bauer Media has shown, converging with digital technology will increase the audience footprint even more. Bauer Media as a whole has 300 magazines in 15 countries as well as some convergence with TV and Radio Stations. Bauer is therefore a multi-platform group, that synergises well with their radio stations and broadcasters, even to their website and further on. Despite digital technology, they are still very successful. In 1990 they acquired kiss FM, followed by Radio City and Melody FM, which transformed into the market leading Magic 105.4. In 1994 they bought For Him Magazine (FHM) which is now the core of the best-selling international multi-platform brand. In 2002, Closer launched, and Grazier was launched in 2005. This shows that Bauer is a growing company, but going to back to Marcus Rich’s quote, and the fact that 28% of the 73% that consume Bauer products, consume it from a PC or Mobile device, they need to allocate some time to focusing on digital media to stick the generation that now checks their mobile, rather than buying the print media, to solidify this, the number of printed magazines sold in the UK plummeted from 1.21 billion in 2007 to 781 million last year, this shows on average mobile adds a further 46% audience reach to individual magazine brand footprint. Today Bauer Media spans over 80 influential brand names covering a diverse range of interest. Bauer is also a sister company of H Bauer Publishing, publisher of Take a Break and Bella, this shows their success, but also emphasises how successful they are where they converge and synergise with digital media technology to cater to a younger audience who don’t buy as much print media. To emphasise their success from converging with digital media they say “Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent contact through our broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want” this shows that they cater to every kind of audiences, this is why they adopt digital technology to cater to the new audience that will increase their percentage readers by the 28% that consume it from a PC or Mobile device.

The specific case study we have been studying is “Kerrang!” (Founded in 1981) this is a magazine that Bauer Media produce and sell, Kerrang! Is a huge magazine that they started producing, but they also converged it with a radio station that many people tune into, and also a TV channel that many of the population tune into, so you can see the impact that Kerrang!, It also has synergy within it, such as the synergy that the Radio station and the broadcasters have, and the synergy that the

magazine and the music industry have. Arguably the most important convergence that Kerrang! Has is their website, this is important as it synchronises with their target audience, which is anything from 16-24 year old males predominantly, since these are part of a younger generation, they will be using their phone and the internet more to access their media products, rather than buying them from printed media, since Kerrang! Now has a website they converge with, this audience can access all they want from the internet which will impact the institution greatly, as it will increase their audience reach by a lot, as more people will be able to access it, and more of the younger generation will be exposed to it. Since they are targeting a very niche audience, this will appeal greatly to them. My viewpoint is that converging with a website was a good idea from Kerrang! And Bauer as a whole, as it has increased their audience reach, such as taking mobiles into account, it adds a further 46% audience reach to individual magazine brand footprints, and as previously stated, a 9.4% increase with PC owners. Converging with a website means that Kerrang! Will not lose grip or fade into obscurity, it will stay relevant due to the higher audience reach, and potential buyers it gains from converging with digital media technology.

James Warwick