Bauer Media has launched two new radio portfolios today, called Place and Passion.
All 42 stations owned by Bauer Radio have been reassigned into either one of two brands, replacing the previously named "Big City" network of mostly ILR stations.
Bauer says the move takes it away from the industry trend toward national networked programming, with Barclays being the first major company to sign a deal with "Bauer Place".
"The new portfolios have been in development for over a year, they are based on exhaustive research and insight into Bauer’s 13million-strong listener base," said Bauer today.
Place includes the likes of local stations Metro Radio, Clyde 1 and Wave 105. Passion is more about the music with Kiss, Kerrang! and heat included.
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.”
Stations in the Bauer Place Portfolio include:
• Aberdeen – Northsound 1 and Northsound 2
• Belfast – 97.4 Cool fm and Downtown fm
• Berwick – Radio borders
• Carlisle – CFM
• Dundee – Tay am and Tay fm
• Edinburgh – Forth one and Forth 2
• Glasgow – Clyde 1 and Clyde 2
• Hull – 96.9 Viking fm and Magic 1161
• Inverness – MFR
• Kilmarnock/Dumfries – West sound (inc West fm)
• Leeds – 96.3 Radio Aire and Magic 828
• Liverpool – Radio city 96.7 and City talk 105.9 and Magic 1548
• London – Magic 105.4
• Manchester – Key 103 and Magic 1152
• Middlesbrough – TFM and Magic 1170
• Newcastle – Metro radio and Magic 1152
• Preston – 97.4 Rock fm and Magic 999
• Sheffield – Hallam fm and Magic am
• Southampton – Wave 105
Stations in the Bauer Passion Portfolio include:
• Kiss UK
• Kerrang! UK
• The Hits
• Smash Hits
• Q
• heat
Here's the info direct from Bauer:
[blockquote]Bauer Place Portfolio is commercial market leader in 20 of 21 markets, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Southampton, reaching 8.7m listeners every week and registering a 33 per cent higher market share within TSA of adults than the Heart Network, 222 per cent higher than the Smooth Network and 273 per cent higher than total Real Radio according to the last Rajars[/blockquote]
[blockquote]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 station Kiss, rock music brand Kerrang!, iconic music brand Q, celebrity brand heat, and the UK’s biggest commercial digital station, The Hits. It 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 per cent compared to Capital on 9.4 per cent, Choice on 0.95 per cent and XFM, 0.82 per cent.[/blockquote]