Bauer Media goes all in on DooH – following the acquisition of Clear Channel Northern Europe (UK, Scandinavia), the Hamburg-based media group is now also investing in digital signage infrastructure – bringing the British DooH totem manufacturer and Clear Channel supplier Amscreen into the family.
DooH: Bauer Media Acquires Amscreen
Bauer Media is once again surprising the industry with the acquisition of Amscreen, as reported by City AM. The British outdoor DooH totem manufacturer is one of the pioneers in the industry. Founder Lord Alan Sugar was one of Europe’s first major investors in DooH. For more than a decade, he shaped the market with his company Amscreen, both as a manufacturer and as a network operator.
Amscreen’s specialty was the forecourt network in gas stations. With its own hardware – vertical screens at the point of sale – the company helped popularize in-store DooH, laying the groundwork for what is now evolving into today’s Retail Media Networks.
Pioneer of the DooH industry
Later, Amscreen withdrew from the media business and focused on manufacturing outdoor DooH totems. For Clear Channel, Amscreen was the exclusive supplier in Europe – a typical Lord Sugar deal. Industry rumors suggest the partnership went beyond supply, with Amscreen securing a share of media revenues in exchange for lower prices. According to Amscreen’s latest public figures, a very lucrative deal.
Now, Bauer Media Group – founded in 1875, publisher of more than 600 magazines, operator of 400 digital platforms and 50 radio and TV stations, and a newly established player in DooH – is acquiring its most important supplier, Amscreen. It was, after all, only in January that the Group added Clear Channel’s Nordics business to its portfolio.
The company employs around 60 people across its UK headquarters, Poland, and former Clear Channel markets throughout Europe.
invidis Comment
With the acquisition of Amscreen, Bauer Media is copying the integrated business model of its largest competitors, JC Decaux and Ströer. The two European network owners each have an in-house integrator responsible for design, technology, and operations.
DooH media owners usually work closely with visual solution providers – screen and LED manufacturers to develop and build both outdoor and indoor advertising media, often integrated into street furniture. Besides the large display vendors and LED manufacturers, Dynascan is considered one of the leading external manufacturing partners for JC Decaux and other DOOH providers worldwide
