Johannesburg, 19 June 2019: Tiso Blackstar Group has announced the acquisition of media titles The Media, and The Media Online, as well as the annual MOST Awards and EasyDIY magazine and www.easyDIY.co.za, from Wag The Dog Publishers. They will be incorporated into the Group’s Events, Magazine and Online Publishing division as of 1 July 2019.
Andy Gill, managing director of Tiso Blackstar Group, believes the products will boost the Group’s portfolio catering to highly engaged, niche audiences.
The acquisition of The Media magazine and The Media Online is in line with the Group’s determination to deliver relevant, incisive market intelligence to support the development of South Africa’s media, advertising and marketing communities.
The addition of the MOST Awards – which motivate and inspire media owners and agencies to excellence through a system of rating each other’s service across a number of criteria – reinforces Tiso Blackstar’s existing commitment to the industry through regular Financial Mail AdForum conferences, the Sunday Times Generation Next and Top Brands consumer surveys, as well as the prestigious Financial Mail AdFocus Awards.
EasyDIY is the only DIY focused magazine in South Africa devoted to the do-it-yourself home and building consumer sector, with a print readership in excess of 53 000. Together with the online www.easydiy.co.za platform, the SA Home Owner magazine and website, and the Group’s broadcast asset, The Home Channel on DStv 176, marketers will be able to benefit from integrated video, print, online, mobile and television advertising opportunities.
Sandra Gordon, who founded independent media company, Wag the Dog Publishers Pty Ltd, in 2002, said while it was a difficult decision to sell Wag the Dog’s media assets, it was the right time to do so. “For me, it was a question of scale. The media industry is in transition with many factors at play, including digital innovation and economic challenges,” she says. “It is an exciting space, one with many opportunities for niche publications, online and traditional. But scaling up to their full potential is beyond the reach of a small publishing company.”
Gordon says she approached the Tiso Blackstar Group in the belief it had the capacity and the will to amplify the influence and credibility of her titles. “Tiso can take the brands and their people to a whole new level. It was a well-thought out and strategic decision on my part.”
Gordon will ensure the smooth transition of the respective titles and key staff into the Tiso Blackstar business.
