Bauer Media is considering closing, merging or selling 10 of its UK magazines as the “already challenged” titles are hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The impacted magazine brands cover categories from music to sport, and include: Mother & Baby, Golf World, Practical Photography, Sea Angler, Planet Rock, Q, Car Mechanics, Modern Classics, Simply You and Your Horse.
These titles are “not expected to be sustainable” following the crisis, and will therefore see their print and digital properties – as well as associated events – either moved to a digital only format, merged with sister titles, divested or closed.
“The pandemic and lockdown has further accelerated the trends already affecting the publishing industry,” said Chris Duncan, Bauer Media’s CEO of UK publishing.
“Bauer publishes nearly 100 magazines in the UK, and some titles that were already challenged, unfortunately, are not expected to be sustainable after the crisis.
“We must protect the long term health of our business and ability to invest in future growth by re-shaping our portfolio.”
Employees affected by the proposed changes have now entered a 30 day period of consultation.
Last month the latest AA/Warc adspend report painted a bleak picture for the magazine market through 2020, with the medium forecast to see advertising investment fall -25.1% overall following an -8.8% decline in 2019.
