Immediate Media is still probably best known for its print titles, including Radio Times, BBC Top Gear Magazine, BBC History and Gardeners’ World. But the West London based publisher which has recently celebrated its fourth anniversary isn’t stopping there. “Strategically when you are looking at the next five or ten years I don’t think that’s enough,” said Chief Executive Tom Bureau in a recent interview. “So we are now focusing on the third part of our proposition – becoming a platform business.”
While print will remain a key part of the platform strategy (‘you don’t throw the baby out the bath water’ says Bureau), it’s no surprise that recent hires to the leadership team have been from outside the traditional publishing industry. These include CIO Toby Hoon, who joined Immediate from Tesco, and Group Managing Director Francois-Regis Coumau who was formerly General Manager, eBay Europe.
Indeed, it was Coumau who behind the company’s latest acquisition of Redditch-based business Jewellery Maker – a 24 hour Jewellery channel on Sky Channel 665, Virgin Channel 756 and Freesat Channel 807. We talked to Francois-Regis about the deal with Jewellery Maker and what’s next for Immediate Media.
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