Bauer Media Group is Europe's largest privately owned publishing group. It publishes Q magazine, which was originally founded in 1986 and focuses on rock music. Bauer Media acquired Q and many other titles in 2008 when it purchased them from EMAP. Bauer Media owns magazines, websites, radio stations, and television channels across Europe, Australia, the Americas, Asia, and Africa targeting a wide range of audiences with its 570+ magazines and 300+ digital media outlets. It produces titles like Q, Car, and Heat that focus on music, vehicles, and celebrity news.

1. Daniel James
Homework Two – Institutions Research
Using a relevant music magazine complete research into the company that produces
it. You should aim to find out what brands they produce, what audiences they target,
examples of cross-media ownership, and information about the ownership structure
of the company, e.g. are they a subsidiary?
Q magazine
The publisher of Q is now Bauer Media Group who believe that "Q is the legendary
monthly magazine which celebrates everything that’s great in rock and roll ".
Q was founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth and published under the EMAP
umbrella at its launch in 1986. The founders believed there was nothing on the
market for older music lovers – the audience that had the money to buy CDS – which
were still a new technology – magazines and go to concerts.
EMAP, publisher of a vast array of magazines, ensured Q set high standards of
photography and printing quality. EMAP sold many titles, including Q, to the Bauer
Media Group in January 2008.
Ownership and structure of the company
Bauer Media is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group. It is a German
family company which began 138 years ago and has always carefully managed the
management transition from one generation to another which has made it stable
successful. They were the first company to produce a tv guide.
Since the early 1980s, publisher Heinz Heinrich Bauer has concentrated on the
internationalisation of the media group. This was the time they bought many EMAP
magazines. The foundation for successful expansion into foreign markets, however,
was laid when Bauer brought into the American market. In the intervening years, the
family-run business has become an international media group with 16 locations. The
Bauer Media Group’s attractive media portfolio currently comprises approximately
570 popular magazines, more than 300 digital media outlets, and radio and TV
stations in Germany, Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, New
Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, the UK, China and the
US.
Now in its fifth generation, in November 2010 Heinz Heinrich’s daughter Yvonne
assumed the management of the Bauer Media Group after joining the family
business in 2005. Bauer is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group.
Brands they produce
Bauer Media UK reaches over 22 million UK consumers every week.

2. Bauer Media's magazines have specialist titles for a wide range of interests
from sport, and cars through to music and hobbies. They include popular titles such
as Q and Heat through to more narrow titles such as Landrover International.
The portfolio includes
 Vehicle magazines such as Car, Classic Cars, Car Mechanics
and Practical Classics
 Golf magazines Today's Golfer and Golf World
 Fishing magazines such as Angling Times, Trout Fisherman and
Trout and Salmon
 Celebrity magazines Heat, Closer and Grazia
 Music magazines Kerrang, Mojo and Q
Audiences targeted
Bauer produce such a wide variety of magazines that they cater for many different
target audiences including teenagers and men and women of all ages with a
massive range of interests. For example, the magazines for women target females at
every stage of their life from Top Sante for health and well- being, Closer for celebrity
gossip, Pregnancy and Birth and Mother and Baby through to Yours magazine for
the over 50s.
Cross media ownership
As well as a vast publishing company, Bauer also launched into radio. In 1990 they
acquired London dance station Kiss FM (now called Kiss 100), followed by
Liverpool's Radio City and later by TWC and the Metro Group. Then came the
acquisition of Melody FM which was transformed into the market-leading
Magic 105.4.
In 1996, they bought digital music TV channel The Box, as a route into the small
screen business, which has grown into Box Television, a seven channel joint venture
TV business with Channel 4.