Timeline of Bauer Media Audio UK

A timeline of notable events relating to Bauer Media Audio UK, a British media company established as a division of German company Bauer Media Group in 2008.

2000s

  • 2008
    • 29 January – Bauer completes its purchase of Emap's radio, television and consumer media businesses for £1.14bn.
  • 2009
    • No events.

2010s

  • 2010
    • No events.
  • 2011
    • No events.
  • 2012
    • No events.
  • 2013
    • 6 February – Bauer Media buys the digital station Planet Rock for a sum estimated to be between £1m and £2m.
    • 15 April – Bauer increases networking on its Yorkshire Magic stations with a networked breakfast show coming from Magic 828 in Leeds.
    • 1 July – Bauer's Scottish MW stations start to receive a networked breakfast show from Glasgow presented by Robin Galloway. Consequently, there is now no local programming on any of these stations.
    • 29 July – Bauer Media Group announces that it intends to purchase Absolute Radio from The Times Group for an amount believed to be between £20m and £25m, pending regulatory approval.
  • 2014
    • No events.
  • 2015
    • 5 January –
    • 31 March – Ofcom launches an investigation into Bauer Media and Absolute Radio for an alleged breach of its regulations, but no details of the incident are to be released until the investigation is complete.
    • 7 December – Following permission from the regulator, Bauer swaps Radio City 2's format and frequencies with that of Radio City Talk. This gives City Network 2 its first berth on FM in England.
  • 2016
    • 15 March – Mellow Magic begins broadcasting on the Sound Digital multiplex and is joined by another Magic spin-off, Magic Chilled on the 28th.
    • 6 May – Orion Media announces that they have been bought by Bauer for an undisclosed fee, reportedly between £40 and £50 million. This gives Bauer the West Midlands network of Free Radio stations and East Midlands regional station Gem 106.
  • 2017
    • 3 January – Bauer Radio's Cash for Kids appeal raises £15.5 million for charity.
  • 2018
    • 3 April – Aberdeen station Northsound 2 stops broadcasting on MW. The station continues to broadcast on DAB and online. It becomes the first commercial radio station in Scotland – and the first of Bauer's local stations – to cease analogue broadcasting.
    • 18 April – Bauer Radio announces that, on 4 June, its Manchester station Key 103 will be rebranded and relaunched as Hits Radio, a CHR-led music station aimed at 25–44 year olds. The station will be merged with The Hits to provide a single national service across the UK on DAB, Freeview and online. In Manchester, Hits Radio will continue to provide local news and information, traffic bulletins and advertising. Hits Radio will also produce and broadcast off-peak programming for Bauer's network of CHR local stations which will continue to air local programming at peak times.
    • 25 May – Ahead of the launch of Hits Radio on 4 June, the name Key 103 disappears from the Manchester airwaves.
    • 4 June – Following the renaming of Key 103 to Hits Radio, Key 2 is renamed Key Radio.
    • 16 August – Bauer Radio purchases Jazz FM.
  • 2019
    • 7 January –
    • 5 February – it is announced that Bauer has acquired over thirty further stations to its network by way of the purchase of Lincs FM Group and Celador Radio. Several of the purchased stations, including KCFM in East Yorkshire, are sold on to Nation Broadcasting due to overlap with existing Bauer assets (in KCFM's case, Viking FM.)
    • 8 February – The Wireless Group sells its network of local radio stations in England and Wales to Bauer Media.
    • 4 March – Launch of classical music station Scala Radio.
    • 5 March – Bauer purchases the ten FM stations owned by UKRD. The deal includes the purchase of three local DAB multiplexes.
    • 5 April – Bauer launches Country Hits Radio whichis broadcast on a number of local DAB multiplexes.
    • 2 September – Bauer begins to network its Hits Radio Manchester weekday drivetime show on all but one of its Hits Radio stations in England, leaving only the weekday breakfast show as a local show, following the removal in July of the one remaining local weekend programme.
    • 18 November – Absolute Radio launches its sixth decades-only station, Absolute Radio 10s which, unlike its sister stations, operates exclusively online.
    • 21 November – Bauer launches Magic at the Musicals on DAB+ in and around London. Presenters include Ruthie Henshall and Jonathan Bailey.

2020s

  • 2020
    • 24 February – Absolute Radio 20s launches as an online station..
    • 14 April – Bauer Radio takes full control of Celador Radio, Lincs FM Group, Wireless Group local stations and UKRD Group.
    • 1 May – Bauer Radio takes 100% share in First Radio Sales.
    • 27 May – Bauer announces that the majority of the stations it acquired from UKRD, Lincs, Wireless and Celador will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio network from September, clustered to provide regional programming outside of network hours. Four of the acquired stations will join the Hits Radio network, retaining local names and a daily breakfast show, and three stations – Lincs FM, Pirate FM and SAM FM Bristol – will continue as largely standalone stations.
    • 31 May – Liverpool speech station Radio City Talk closes.
    • 30 June – Bauer switches off the MW transmitters which had been carrying Absolute Classic Rock since the start of 2019. Consequently, Bauer is no longer broadcasting on MW in the West Midlands.
    • 20 July – Pulse 1, Signal 1, The Wave 96.4 and Fire Radio become part of the Hits Radio network with all programming, apart from weekday breakfast, networked. All four stations retain their station name.
    • 28 August – Bauer launches Hits Radio Pride, aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. This is the first time that a major radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom has launched a station that is targeted to the LGBTQ+ community.
    • 31 August – Bauer closes Leeds station Radio Aire after 39 years on air. Its frequency is, from the following day, used to carry Greatest Hits Radio.
    • 1 September – The majority of the stations that Bauer Media acquired the previous year from UKRDLincs FM Group, Wireless Group and Celador Radio – join Greatest Hits Radio, clustered to provide regional programming outside of network hours, consisting of three hours each weekday teatime. All of the affected stations lose their individual station names.
    • 29 September – Bauer Radio launches a campaign to support The Prince's Trust, spearheaded by Magic Radio.
    • 10 November – Ofcom approves two regional changes for Bauer Radio licences, allowing it to switch two licences to different regions.
    • 16 November – Following Bauer's purchase of The Revolution, the east Manchester station is closed and its frequency transferred to Greatest Hits Radio, thereby giving Greatest Hits Radio Manchester its first berth on FM.
  • 2021
    • 24 February – Bauer Media enters into an agreement to buy CommuniCorp, the Ireland-based company that owns brands including Today FM and Newstalk. The agreement is subject to approval from the regulator, and excludes CommuniCorp's UK radio stations which are operated under the Global name.
    • 2 March – Bauer Media receives Ofcom approval to network all programming between CFM and other Bauer stations in the north west.
    • 7 March – Ofcom gives Bauer Radio approval to add its newly-acquired Plymouth licence to its South West Approved Area of radio stations.
    • 8 March – Bauer Media agrees a deal to buy Mediatakojat Oy in Finland.
    • 11 March – Bauer Radio announces plans to launch Bauer Audiostream, a new digital audio advertising network for the Nordic countries.
    • 31 March – Following the death of Sarah Everard, Bauer Radio streams a special panel show titled We Need to Talk About Women's Safety simultaneously across its stations at 8pm.
    • 26 April – Bauer switches off its medium wave frequencies in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Lees and Humberside, following the launch of Greatest Hits Radio on FM in those areas.
    • 4 May – Bauer Radio announces plans to launch premium online subscription services to compliment Scala Radio, Jazz FM, Planet Rock and Kerrang! Radio, with an extra 20 stations available ad-free and with extra content.
    • 17 May
      • Country Hits Radio is renamed as Absolute Radio Country and made part of the Absolute Radio Network.
      • Greatest Hits Radio launches on FM in London, on the frequency that carried Absolute Radio. Bauer is able to make the change following permission from Ofcom to swap Absolute Radio with Greatest Hits Radio.
      • Bauer Radio is granted regulatory approval to purchase Communicorp, with the deal completing on 31 May.
    • 1 June – Bauer Media announces the completion of its acquisition of CommuniCorp.
    • 17 June – Bauer purchases Stockport-based Imagine FM and announces it will add the three licences it purchases to the Greatest Hits Radio network, further expanding GHR's coverage of the Greater Manchester environs and into north Derbyshire (where GHR already occupies the former Peak FM).
    • 1 September – Imagine FM rebrands as Greatest Hits Radio.
    • 25 September – Bauer Radio becomes Bauer Media Audio UK
  • 2022
    • 16 February – The online output of Bauer Radio's stations goes down for around half an hour just before 8am because of an internal update to their streaming service.
    • 27 May –
      • Bauer Media announce plans to launch a subscription service for Absolute Radio and KISS, allowing listeners to access commercial-free content for a monthly fee.
      • The RadioToday website reports that Bauer Radio is refurbishing the studios of Wave 105 near Southampton in preparation for it to become the company’s South Broadcast Centre.
    • 31 May – Bauer Media confirms the completion of its acquisition of Media Capital Rádios in Portugal.
    • 14 July – Bauer Media launches a subscription service for Absolute Radio and KISS, allowing listeners to access commercial free content for a monthly fee as well as brand spin-off stations, such as Absolute Radio Acoustic and Absolute Radio Classic Country.
    • 10 August – Bauer Media Audio launches a radio content subscription service in Norway.

See also


This page was last updated at 2022-08-29 22:26 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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