This is a question B answer that details Bauer Media and Kerrang!

1. What significance does the continuing development of digitalmedia 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 fromconverging 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

2. 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