Bauer leans on FHM and Empire for radio station

"It is very interested in creating a male radio brand," said the source.
"Bauer knows it has brands such as FHM, and its content could be
transformed into material for the radio.

"The station would probably source content from a number of its
male-slanted magazine brands."

However, the source added that Bauer's current focus remains on the
relaunch of Q Radio this month and the debut of radio on Freeview.

Dee Ford, Bauer Radio Group managing director, said: "Bauer deliberately
bought both the (Emap) radio and consumer magazine portfolios as it
definitely intends to continue the brand extensions between those
groups."

She added: "We are looking all the time to see what would work next and
where the holes are. It's a rolling project that looks across the whole
portfolio."

Jonathan Barrowman, head of radio at Initiative, said the launch of a
male-skewed station would balance Bauer's portfolio.

"It's encouraging that new formats are being developed as that's what
was meant to come out of more consolidation as opposed to cost-cutting
measures," he said.

Howard Bareham, head of radio at MindShare, also believes agencies would
welcome the launch of such a station.

"At the moment in the commercial radio sector, the only station with a
pure male-targeted output is TalkSport," he said.

"Presumably this creation of Bauer's would be a mixture of speech, music
and male-focused features. Currently, there is no equivalent from a
male-lifestyle point of view."

Cathy Lowe, head of radio at PHD, said the challenge for Bauer would be
in establishing the station's content line-up.

"There is a gap in the market for it, as most radio stations target
females because they are more loyal," she added.