Immediate Media Company

Immediate Media Company Limited (styled as Immediate Media Co) is a British multinational publishing house that publishes a significant range of titles, including Radio Times, BBC Top Gear, BBC Good Food and a host of others. In H1 2018, the company's titles reported a combined ABC circulation of 1.59 million, including 1.1M active subscribers. In 2018 it reported selling 70+ million magazines.[1]

Immediate Media Company
IndustryPublishing house
PredecessorMagicalia, BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing
FoundedLondon and Bristol, England (1 November 2011 (2011-11-01))
Headquarters
London, W6
United Kingdom
Key people
CEO Tom Bureau
Number of employees
1,300
ParentHubert Burda Media
Websitewww.immediate.co.uk

The publishing house is owned by Hubert Burda Media, and is an agglomeration of Magicalia, Origin Publishing and BBC Magazines, publishing both media content and software platforms.[2] Approximately 85% of its revenue is from content services, with the remainder from advertising.[3]

History

Immediate Media originated from the combined assets of several formerly independent publishing houses, including BBC Magazines, Magicalia, Future plc, Hitched and Jewellery Maker.

In late 2011 the BBC's magazine-publishing business was sold to Exponent Private Equity, following clearance by the Office of Fair Trading. Exponent had previously acquired Magicalia Limited, a digital publisher and platform provider based in London.[4] Magicalia was founded in 1999 by Adam Laird and Jeremy Tapp. Its inaugural website was bikemagic.com. In 2000, it began offering B2B publishing services, with clients such as Runner's World magazine.

In 2011 Magicalia's assets were combined with those of Origin Publishing and BBC Magazines to form Immediate Media. Tom Bureau, then-CEO of Magicalia, became the Chief Executive of the new company.

In May 2014 Immediate Media acquired Future plc's sport and craft titles.[5] 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, and Mollie Makes. In January 2015, Immediate Media acquired Hitched.co.uk, a UK wedding planning brand. In November 2015 Immediate Media 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. Jewellery Maker employed over 100 people at the time of its acquisition. It has since expanded into TV, video and e-commerce.[6][7][8]

Hubert Burda Media acquired Immediate Media in 2017, for £270 million (5-6 x EBITDA).[9]

In 2019, Immediate Media sold Procycling magazine and the Cyclingnews.com website to Future plc.[10]

Divisions

TV and Entertainment

Radio Times is a British weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, founded in 1923 by John Reith, the then general manager of the BBC. It was the world's first broadcast listings magazine. The title was published entirely in-house by BBC Magazines from 1937[11] until 2011, when the BBC Magazines division was sold to Immediate Media. Its peak weekly circulation was 8.8 million. In 2014 it accounted for 60% of Immediate Media's profit.[12] It is the UK's biggest-selling magazine, with a weekly print ABC of 577,087, and the UK's biggest weekly subscription title, with 271,237 subscribers in 2018.[13]

Sport

Homes and Gardening

Crafts
  • Cardmaking & Papercraft
  • Cross Stitch Crazy
  • Cross Stitch Gold
  • Get into Craft
  • Jewellery Maker
  • Love Crochet
  • Love Knitting
  • Love Patchwork & Quilting[14]
  • Mollie Makes
  • Papercraft Inspirations
  • Quick Cards Made Easy
  • Sewing Quarter
  • Simply Crochet
  • Simply Knitting
  • Simply Sewing[15]
  • The Knitter
  • The World of Cross Stitching
  • The Yarn Loop
  • Today's Quilter[14]
  • Ultimate Cross Stitch
  • We Love Craft

Motoring

Parents and children

Immediate Media says that it has the largest market share in the UK children's magazines sector, with a total ABC-audited circulation of 780,194.[1]

  • Giggly.co.uk
  • Junior
  • Made For Mums

Weddings
  • Hitched.co.uk
  • Perfect Wedding
  • You & Your Wedding

Specialist

Youth and Children
  • Andy's Amazing Adventures
  • Art-Draw and Create
  • Baby Shark
  • BBC CBeebies
  • BBC CBeebies ART
  • BBC CBeebies Special
  • BBC Match of the Day Magazine
  • BBC Match of the Day Specials
  • BBC Top of the Pops Magazine
  • Bluey
  • Disney Frozen
  • Disney Frozen Fun Time
  • Disney Stars
  • Disney Princess Create and Collect
  • Girl Talk
  • Hatchimals
  • Lego Ninjago
  • Lego Disney Princesses
  • Lego Superhero Legends
  • Lego Star Wars
  • Lego Specials
  • Lego Giant Series
  • Lego City
  • MEGA!
  • PJ Masks
  • Pokémon
  • Ultimate Series

Platforms and other revenue

Some Immediate Media brands serve as e-commerce marketplaces. These include the wedding site hitched.co.uk and the TV shopping arm of Jewellery Maker. In July 2022, Immediate Media launched The Recommended,[16] an internet shopping guide devoted to e-commerce recommendations and buyers' guides. Immediate Media also organises live events such as the Radio Times Festival.

Immediate Media sells market research services based around its consumer panel, which the company says has 14,000 respondents. The firm also provides data analytics, loyalty publishing and IP licensing.

References
  1. "Immediate Media Co's Posts Strong ABC Results and Grows Newsstand Revenues". www.immediate.co.uk (Press release). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  2. "Home Page". PPA. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  3. Gavin, Jamie (24 May 2017). "The Immediate Media Co story: from starting up to being acquired by Burda | News | FIPP.com". www.fipp.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  4. "Tom Bureau - interview". www.inpublishing.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  5. Turvill, William. "Immediate Media Co. to Acquire Future Publishing's Sport and Craft Titles". guardian.co.uk.
  6. William Turvill (29 May 2014). "Immediate Media Co. to Acquire Future Publishing's Sport and Craft Titles". Press Gazette. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  7. "PPA : Immediate Media Co acquires hitched". www.ppa.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  8. Sweney, Mark (23 November 2015). "Top Gear and Radio Times publisher buys TV shopping channel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  9. "Immediate brings growth back to UK magazines". Flashes & Flames. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  10. "Back to Future: Immediate sells CyclingNews and Procycling to Future plc, their previous owner". Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  11. "BBC - The Radio Times - History of the BBC". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  12. Sweney, Mark (19 January 2014). "Radio Times seeks to fuel digital success with print profits". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  13. Gavin, Jamie (24 May 2017). "The Immediate Media Co story: from starting up to being acquired by Burda | News | FIPP.com". www.fipp.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  14. "Immediate Media Co expands craft portfolio with launch of Today's Quilter". Professional Publishers Association. 10 September 2015. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  15. "Immediate Media extends craft portfolio with launch of Simply Sewing". Professional Publishers Association. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  16. "Immediate Media Co Launch 'The Recommended' Offering Expert Advice and Recommendations to Shop Smarter Online". Immediate Media (Press release). Retrieved 30 July 2022.


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