Bauer Media Group UK is acquiring the 28-year-old Jazz FM radio network which has an audience of some 670k weekly listeners. Although the station has a loyal following, it has seldom been profitable. Its last revenue was £1.37m, resulting in a trading loss of £433k. It is believed that Bauer has acquired Jazz FM (which had borrowings of £500k) for less than £1m in total.
In 2016, Bauer Radio (which claims an audience of some 25m UK consumers through its heat, KISS, Grazia, Empire, Magic and Absolute Radio brands) made pre-tax profits of £30m – more than twice the profit of the company’s once dominant magazines group. Bauer’s growing UK radio interests (acquired as part of its £1bn EMAP consumer media deal in 2007) have led to acquisitions in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and to speculation that it was seeking a radio deal in Australia.
