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overview
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overview
This profile considers the Wegener media group, aquired
by Mecom in 2007.
It covers
introduction
The Wegener group is publisher of regional dailies and
free newspapers in the Netherlands.
It has commercial radio broadcast operations, publishes
professional and special-interest magazines, and is emphasising
online activity (including provision of municipal information
services).
In 2004 it spun off its cartographic products arm into
a joint venture, in which it had a minority stake.
In October 2007 Mecom gained control,
with the Dutch competition authority (NMa) approving acquisition
by the London-based publisher and Mecom increasing its
stake to 86.6%.
The corporate site is here.
evolution of the group
The Apeldoorn-based Wegener group dates from the 1996
merger between newspaper and magazine publisher Wegener
Tijl and Dutch music publisher Arcade. It was initially
known as Wegener Arcade.
Following the merger Wegener disposed of many of its consumer
consumer and music magazine titles, such as
Automobiel Klassiek, and invested in both electronic media
- it has stakes in radio broadcasting - and newspapers,
notably through acquisition of newspaper group Sijthoff
Pers and VNU's Dutch newspaper holdings.
It sold its television operations to Viacom's
MTV Europe subsidiary in 2001.
Major titles include Tubantia, Haagsche Courant,
Gelders Dagblad and Utrechts Nieuwsblad.
Like its competitors PCM Uitgevers
and De Telegraaf it acquired
local and regional free newspapers. In imitation of VNU
and Reed-Elsevier it attempted - albeit with much less
success - to move from low-margin mass market publications
to specialist journals and other higher margin publications
for markets inside and outside the Netherlands.
studies
There are no major English-language studies of Wegener
or its predecessors.
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