Immediate Media Company

Immediate Media Company
Industry Publishing house
Predecessor Magicalia, BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing
Founded London and Bristol, England (1 November 2011 (2011-11-01))
Headquarters London, W6
United Kingdom
Key people
 CEO Tom Bureau
Number of employees
 1100
Website www.immediate.co.uk

Immediate Media Company Limited (styled as Immediate Media Co) is a combined publishing house containing the former assets of Origin Publishing, Magicalia and BBC Magazines. It was formed on 1 November 2011 and is owned by Exponent Private Equity.[1] Immediate Media Co. publishes over 70 interest-based, multi-platform brands, maintains over 50 websites, and employs over 1100 staff[2] in its offices in Hammersmith, London, Bristol, Redditch, Camberley and Manchester.[3] Immediate is the current publisher of a diverse range of publications, including the Radio Times, Gardens Illustrated and BBC Top Gear Magazine. Tom Bureau - who has a background in digital media as well as traditional publishing[4] - is Immediate's CEO. 60% of Immediate's profit is generated by the Radio Times, which is now spearheading the company's moves into online retailing.[5] In 2017, Immediate Media Company was bought by Hubert Burda Media[6]

History

BBC Magazines

One of the components that formed Immediate was BBC Magazines, the magazine publishing division of BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. The corporation had a long history of publishing magazines including the Radio Times which dates back to 1923. In 2007 BBC Magazines dropped plans to launch an international news-based magazine with the working title Newsbrief[7][8] tied closely with the BBC's flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight.[9] In late 2011 the BBC's magazine-publishing business was sold to Exponent Private Equity following the clearance by the Office of Fair Trading of the purchase. It is now part of the Immediate Media Company and BBC Magazines titles are published by Immediate under licence from BBC Worldwide.

Magicalia Limited

Another component that made up Immediate was Magicalia Limited, a digital cross-media publisher and platform provider, based in London, England.[10] In late 2011 the assets of Magicalia were combined with those of Origin Publishing and BBC Magazines to form Immediate. Tom Bureau, CEO of Magicalia, became the Chief Executive of the new company.[11] Magicalia was founded in 1999 as a digital-only publisher by entrepreneurs by Adam Laird and Jeremy Tapp with its inaugural website, bikemagic.com.[12] In 2000, Magicalia started to help publishers create and publish their own websites, with clients such as Runner's World (Rodale). The following year, Magicalia started building ecommerce platforms for retailers who wanted to create an online presence. In 2006 Magicalia was acquired by Exponent Private Equity for £13m, which was closely followed by the acquisition of Encanta Media. Encanta[13] published 9 special-interest[14] magazines, and Magicalia wanted to create a cross-media strategy incorporating both print titles and online sites.[15] Former CNET Networks UK MD Tom Bureau[16] joined as CEO and Duncan Tickell as MD Publishing from Incisive Media.

Future plc

In May 2014 Immediate announced its acquisition of Future plc's sport and craft titles in a £24 million deal, acquiring 130 staff. The sport portfolio included the websites Bikeradar.com and Cyclingnews.com and the magazines Cycling Plus, Procycling and Mountain Biking UK. The craft titles included Love Patchwork and Quilting, Simply Knitting, Mollie Makes and the lifestyle brand The Simple Things.[17]

Hitched.co.uk

In January 2015, Immediate acquired Hitched.co.uk, a UK wedding planning brand, along with a staff of 18.[18]

Jewellery Maker

In November 2015 Immediate acquired its first television property, Jewellery Maker, a TV and online commerce platform, from the Genuine Gemstone Company, adding to its Crafts and Arts portfolio. Tom Bureau said that Immediate was looking to expand into TV, video and e-commerce. Jewellery Maker employed over 100 people at the time of its acquisition.[19]

Brands

TV

Radio Times is a British weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. It was the world's first broadcast listings magazine when it was founded in 1923 by John Reith, the then general manager of the BBC. It was published entirely in-house by BBC Magazines from 1937[20] until 2011 when the BBC Magazines division was merged into Immediate Media Company.

Sport

Homes & Gardening

Crafts

Motoring

Parenting

Food & Travel

Weddings

History & Music

Science & Nature

Youth & Children

Awards

Immediate Media Company won a number of awards in the two years 2014–15, including the Media Company of the Year award in 2015 at the British Media Awards. Immediate and its brands have also received awards at the PPA Awards, the BSME Awards, and the AOP Awards.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ ."Portfolio: Immediate Media". Exponent Private Equity. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Story - Immediate Media Co – The Special Interest Content and Platform Company". immediate.co.uk.
  3. ↑ "BBC Magazines becomes Immediate Media Co". Professional Publishers Association. October 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Carter, Meg (January 2013). "Tom Bureau - interview". InPublishing Magazine. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Sweney, Mark (19 January 2014). "Radio Times seeks to fuel digital success with print profits". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Radio Times owner bought by German media group Hubert Burda". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Greenslade, Roy (14 June 2007). "BBC puts news magazine launch on ice". Guardian Blog. Guardian.co.uk.
  8. ↑ Crummy, Colin (29 June 2007). "BBC news magazine launch pencilled in for autumn". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Digital overload". London: Guardian News and Media Ltd. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
  10. ↑ "Contact us - Magicalia". 2011.
  11. ↑ John Reynolds (20 October 2011). "Immediate Media named as new home for BBC Magazines". Media Week.
  12. ↑ "Magazine publishers: Magicalia". Magforum. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  13. ↑ James Livesley (22 August 2006). "Magicalia breaks into print". MediaWeek. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Juliette Garside (8 February 2008). "Magicalia breathes new life into moribund magazines". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  15. ↑ Ashley Friedlein (19 September 2002). "Content Management Case Study: Magicalia". Econsultancy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Former CNET head Tom Bureau joins Magicalia". The Guardian. 12 June 2008.
  17. ↑ William Turvill (29 May 2014). "Immediate Media Co. to Acquire Future Publishing's Sport and Craft Titles". Press Gazette. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "PPA : Immediate Media Co acquires hitched". www.ppa.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Sweney, Mark (23 November 2015). "Top Gear and Radio Times publisher buys TV shopping channel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "BBC - The Radio Times - History of the BBC". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  21. 1 2 "PPA : Immediate Media Co expands craft portfolio with launch of Todays Quilter". www.ppa.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "PPA : Immediate Media extends craft portfolio with launch of Simply Sewing". www.ppa.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "2015 Winners". British Media Awards 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "IMMEDIATE SCOOPS THREE AWARDS AT ANNUAL AOP AWARDS 2014! | Immediate Media Co – The Special Interest Content and Platform Company". www.immediate.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
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