Bauer Media launches two new radio portfolios - ‘Bauer Place’ and ‘Bauer Passion’

14 April 2011

LONDON, 14 April 2011: Bauer Media today announced the launch of two
new national commercial radio packages, Bauer Place portfolio and Bauer
Passion portfolio. The portfolios, designed around Bauer’s personal approach to
programming, will enable commercial offerings to be even better understood and
will replace the current framework, including the Big City Network brand. Barclays
has become the first brand to agree a deal, signing with Bauer Place.

In development for more than a year, the new portfolio structure reflects Bauer’s
investment in developing more relevant programming and increasing personalised
interaction with its 13 million listeners in the UK. Bauer’s research into how and
why audiences engage with its 42 local, regional and national stations has led it
to align its radio offering around audience clusters with similar motivations and
behaviours. The move takes Bauer away from the industry trend toward national
networked programming, meaning it will offer brands more flexible, targeted and
measurable advertising packages.

Bauer Place Portfolio –
big in all the right places

Stations in the Bauer Place portfolio champion local communities and strive to
deliver more relevant local programming and to unite listeners in the places they
live. Dominating the premier cities and towns across the UK, Bauer Place is big in
all the right places, as commercial market leader in 20 of 21 markets, including
London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Southampton.

According to the last Rajars, Bauer Place reaches 8.7m listeners every week
and registers a 33% higher market share within TSA of adults than the Heart
Network, 222% higher than the Smooth Network and 273% higher than total
Real Radio. Bauer Place includes the most influential stations in the most
important places, including Magic 105.4 in London, Forth One in Edinburgh, Key
103 in Manchester and Radio City 96.7 in Liverpool.

Plans for the Bauer Place portfolio stations in 2011 include –
• The staging of major local music events in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds,
Belfast and Glasgow, hosted by the local breakfast teams and featuring live
acts like Jessie J. In London, Magic 105.4 will present its inaugural ‘Magic
Summer Live’ event in July 2011, with Sir Elton John as the headline.
• More local campaigns to help communities; the Metro Radio Newcastle
£1million jobs project recently unearthed more than £15 million worth of jobs

in the North East and has now been replicated at Hallam FM in Sheffield. The
campaign has received cross-political party support.
The introduction of individual and bespoke mobile apps across the portfolio;
the stations will be able to work with advertisers to deliver localised content.

•

Bauer Passion Portfolio –
uniting listeners around music and lifestyle

Bauer Passion portfolio is the home of passionate, iconic brands dedicated
to music and lifestyle. Designed to unite listeners around their interests, the
portfolio includes dance music station Kiss, rock music brand Kerrang!, iconic
music brand Q, celebrity brand heat, and the UK’s biggest commercial digital
station, The Hits.

Passion audiences are characterised by the emotional connection they make with
a station’s music format. A mobile audience, they use every platform available
to engage, from FM to DAB, Freeview, online, social media and mobile apps.
According to the latest Rajars, the Bauer Passion portfolio reaches 6.3m listeners
every week with a younger average age of 29 compared to 33 for the recently
re-branded Capital Network, 33 for Total Choice FM and 32 for Total XFM UK.
Its market share within TSA of 15-34 year olds is 10.7% compared to Capital on
9.4%, Choice on 0.95% and XFM, 0.82%.

The stations in Bauer Passion are committed to bringing audiences closer to the
artists, gigs, events and presenters they love through exclusive content and
direct interaction. Plans for the Bauer Passion portfolio nationally in 2011 include:
• The roll-out of Kiss’s Rickie, Melvin & Charlie in the Morning breakfast show on
all national platforms; the popular show already consistently outperforms BBC
Radio 1 Chris Moyles breakfast show every week in Greater London
• The addition of exclusive artist content to digital station, The Hits; guests such
as R&B sensation Jessie J are in the pipeline to present shows in 2011
• The introduction of mobile apps across the entire portfolio; the success of the
Kiss Kube will soon be copied, across i-phone, Android and Blackberry.

‘Place’ and ‘Passion’ portfolios give
new freedom and flexibility to advertisers

The new portfolios will give marketers the freedom to create customised
advertising packages utilising the individual portfolios, or a combination of both,
depending on the objectives of the campaign. Brands seeking to engage and
appeal to consumers emotionally will find value in the Bauer Passion Portfolio,
which appeals on the basis of lifestyle choice. Alternatively, Bauer Place will offer
brands the chance to engage personally with loyal, local communities in specific
geographical locations.

Dee Ford, group managing director radio, Bauer Media comments:
“Bauer’s stations are more influential than our competitors because for us,
radio is personal. We work relentlessly on the product and personality of each
individual station to ensure it is reflective of either the passions of our listeners or

the places where they live. The creation and launch of the Bauer Place and Bauer
Passion portfolios will give our advertisers and partners measurable commercial
advantage by allowing them to customise campaigns to reach and engage directly
with their audiences through a mix of interests and geographic locations.”

Karen Stacey, broadcast director, Bauer Media comments: “The Place and
Passion portfolios are reflective of Bauer’s long-term strategic investment in radio
nationwide. Our research shows us that networked national programming, as now
favoured by the wider industry, simply does not resonate with listeners. Instead,
our focus on increasing locally relevant programming and personalised interaction
is already returning results. We are now recording 7% higher listening hours and
engagement than our nearest challenger in the market, making our stations a far
more attractive advertising proposition for brands.”