Suddenly, Herr Bauer Is Herr Television

Heinz Bauer, Germany's newest media czar, is known as a determined cost-cutter. How determined? During a 1997 printers' strike in Magdeburg, the licensed helicopter pilot personally airlifted workers and supplies over a picket line rather than cave to union demands.

The 63-year-old magazine publisher, who also pilots his company's Falcon 900 jet, will need the same kind of determination and attention to costs as he prepares to guide a TV network. Heinrich Bauer Publishing, which began in the 19th century printing business cards, is poised to take control of the TV and film assets of bankrupt Kirch Group before the end of January. In a stroke, the estimated $1.8 billion deal--in partnership with Munich-based bank HVB Group--will catapult Bauer to the big leagues of the European media business.