Main Task: Information on Magazine Publishers

Information of Magazine Publishers

Here, I will choose three magazine publishers to research in order to think about who would publish my own magazine. I will be researching about who owns them, what other magazines they publish along with their music magazines, how many magazines they publish, what percentage of the market they have, their audience and their multi-platform products.

Bauer

Who owns them?

Managed by five generations of the Bauer family, Bauer Media Group originated as a small printing house located in Germany. With the launch of Bella Magazine, Bauer Media Group made its entrance to the UK, the original UK business trades known as H Bauer Publishing (under CEO David Goodchild). Under this name, they became the third largest publisher in Britain. In November 2010, management of Bauer Media Group was assumed by Heinz Henrich’s daughter, Yvonne.

Other magazines they publish

Other magazine published by Bauer include:

·         The Debrief – a magazine aimed at women

·         Empire - a monthly film magazine

·         Closer – a celebrity news and gossip magazine featuring real life stories and television/entertainment

·         Grazia – a women’s weekly magazine

·         Heat – a British celebrity weekly magazine

·         Yours – a fortnightly lifestyle magazine aimed at women over 50

·         Motor Cycle News – a motorcycle magazine

·         Parker’s Car Guide – a monthly car magazine

·         AM (Automotive Management) – a UK automotive magazine

·          

Their music magazines

Music magazines published by Bauer include:

Kerrang!

Kerrang!, the world’s biggest selling weekly music magazine, targeting passionate, dedicated, youth audiences that love music. Kerrang! focuses on mainly the genre of rock, featuring reviews, gig guides, posters, all multi-platform every week.

MOJO

With a predominantly target audience and no one specific focus, MOJO is the UK’s largest qualitative music magazine filled with integrity.

Q

The world’s biggest monthly music magazine, Q has a predominantly male audience with an excellent reputation for quality. Q is full of readers with an undying passion for music, unrivalled in passion.

How many magazines they publish

Bauer publish 107 different brands and more than 570 magazines, over 300 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations. More than 600 titles worldwide reach out to all the key target groups, especially women.

What percentage of the market they have

56% of women read a magazine from Bauer, selling approximately 433 million issues each year, of which 96% are retail sales and subscriptions. 25 of their magazines are among the 100 highest selling in retail sales. They are also market leaders in consumer magazines in weeklies, premiums, youth, people and lifestyle, children, listings guides and more. They also publish the top two selling women’s weekly magazines – Woman’s World and First for Woman. With 42 radio channels they are the second largest private radio provider in the UK with a market share of over 30 percent.

Their audience

Bauer has a predominantly female audience, aimed more so at adults over 25.

Multi-platform products

Alongside magazines, Bauer are also among the market leaders in the ePaper and eMagazine sectors. They are number 1 in the Apple newsstand with more than 130 titles worldwide. Their radio and TV brands have also expanded on the web through apps and social media with over 90 channels.

Future PLC

Who owns them?

Peter Allen and Zillah Byng-Thorne are chairman and CEO of Future PLC respectively. Other members of the team include Manjir Wolstenholm (Senior Independent Non-Executive Director), Hugo Drayton (Independent Non-Executive Director), and Mark Wood (Non-Executive Director) among more in the Executive team.

Other magazines they publish

Other magazines published by Future PLC include:

• 3D World
• Computer Arts
• Digital Camera Magazine
• Edge
• GamesMaster
• ImagineFX
• iPad User Magazine
• Linux Format
• MacFormat
• Net
• N-Photo
• PC Format
• PC Gamer
• PhotoPlus
• PlayStation Official Magazine
• Practical Photoshop
• SFX
• T3
• Total Film
• Windows 7 Help & Advice
• Xbox: The Official Magazine

Their music magazines

Music magazines published by Future PLC include:

• Computer Music
• Future Music
• Guitar Techniques
• Guitarist
• Rhythm
• Total Guitar

How many magazines they publish

 With a strong multi-platform portfolio across print, tablet, online, video, mobile, apps and events. Future’s movie websites attract over 49 million page views each month, making Future PLC a leading movies publisher. They have one of the most highly respected music portfolios in the world, but their largest sector is in games – their portfolio reaching over 14.6 million every month.

What percentage of the market they have

N/A

Their audience

Future PLC’s audience is mainly people fascinated by media; technology, music and games. As such, they publish very audience-specific magazines as shown above. It was also stated by CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne that “There is a clear indication that Future’s outstanding and engaging content is making us the go-to online destination for men in the UK, we meet their needs and are trusted to provide entertaining insight”. This is solid proof that Future PLC’s target audience is men, aged between 25 and 34, as the online digital business is most likely to be visited by this age group.

Multi-platform products

Future PLC are spread across print, digital, tablet, mobile, video and events, making them very malleable to welcome new audiences.

TimeInc. (Formerly known as IPC Media)

Who owns them?

TimeInc. is owned by Time Warner.  In 1990, Time Inc. merged with Warner Communications to form Time Warner.

Other magazines they publish

TimeInc. publish these genres of magazine:

• Business & Technology
• Health
•  Entertainment
•  Fashion & Beauty
•  Food & Wine
• Home & Design
• Luxury
• News
• Sports & Fitness
• Travel

Their music magazines

Under the “Entertainment” genre, you can find music magazines that are published by TimeInc. such as NME and Uncut. There are bands featured such as Coldplay, which implies to me that fans of these types of magazines are also fans of the genre of rock.

How many magazines they publish

Shown very helpfully on TimeInc.’s website is a list of featured brands published by them.

What percentage of the market they have

I have researched that over 2.6 million adults in the UK read a magazine published by this organisation.

Their audience

It seems that their main target audience are adults in general. In terms of music magazines, their audience seem to be mainly fans of rock (as they distribute rock based music magazines such as NME) which could appeal to almost any age group.

Multi-platform products

TimeInc. is based on a number of different platforms:

• Print
• Digital
• Video
• Social
• Mobile
• Tablet