Time Out (magazine)

History

Time Out was first published in 1968 as a London listings magazine by Tony Elliott, who used his birthday money to produce a one-sheet pamphlet, with Bob Harris as co-editor. The first product was titled Where It's At, before being inspired by Dave Brubeck's album Time Out. Time Out began as an alternative magazine alongside other members of the underground press in the UK, but by 1980 it had abandoned its original collective decision-making structure and its commitment to equal pay for all its workers, leading to a strike and the foundation of a competing magazine, City Limits, by former staffers. By now its former radicalism has all but vanished. As one example of its early editorial stance, in 1976, London's Time Out published the names of 60 purported CIA agents stationed in England. Early issues had a print run of around 5,000 and would evolve to a weekly circulation of 110,000 as it shed its radical roots.

The flavour of the magazine was almost wholly the responsibility of its designer, Pearce Marchbank:

Elliott launched Time Out New York (TONY), his North American magazine debut, in 1995. The magazine hired young and upcoming talent to provide cultural reviews for young New Yorkers at the time. The success of TONY led to the introduction of Time Out New York Kids, a quarterly magazine aimed at families. The expansion continued with Elliott licensing the Time Out brand worldwide spreading the magazine to roughly 40 cities including Istanbul, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Lisbon.

Additional Time Out products included travel magazines, city guides, and books.

Time Outs need to expand to digital platforms led to Elliott, sole owner of the group until November 2010, to sell half of Time Out London and 66 per cent of TONY to private equity group Oakley Capital, valuing the company at £20 million. The group, founded by Peter Dubens, was owned by Tony Elliott and Oakley Capital until 2016, the agreement provided capital for investment to expand the brand. Time Out has subsequently launched websites for an additional 33 cities including Delhi, Washington D.C., Boston, Manchester and Bristol.

The London edition of Time Out became a free magazine in September 2012. Time Outs London magazine was hand-distributed at central London stations, and received its first official ABC Certificate for October 2012 showing distribution of over 305,000 copies per week, which was the largest distribution in the history of the brand. This strategy increased revenue by 80 per cent with continued upsurge. Time Out has also invited a number of guest columnists to write for the magazine. The columnist as of 2014 was Giles Coren.

In April 2015, the New York edition also moved to the free-distribution model to increase the reader base and grow brand awareness. Time Out increased its weekly magazine circulation to over 305,000 copies, complementing millions of digital users of Time Out New York.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Time Out ceased producing paper copies of the magazine and switched to an online-only model. Temporarily rebranding as Time In, the publication also refocused its editorial content towards virtual events for people staying at home during the lockdown.

In April 2022, it was announced that the print edition of London Time Out would finally cease after 54 years, with its last print run distributed on 23 June 2022. The magazine would continue to be published online.

Editions

Below is the list of Time Out cities, sorted by name.

• Africa: Accra, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Marrakech, Pretoria.
• Americas: Acapulco, Albuquerque, Anchorage, Annapolis, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Bogotá, Boise, Boston, Buenos Aires, Buffalo, Calgary, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Edmonton, Fort Worth, Grand Rapids, Halifax, Havana, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Jersey City, Kansas City, Kingston, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Mexico City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Mississauga, Montréal, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Ottawa, Panama City, Pittsburgh, Portland, Quebec City, Raleigh, Richmond, Rio de Janeiro, Saint Louis, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan, São Paulo, Savannah, Seattle, Tacoma, Tallahassee, Tampa, Toronto, Tulsa, Vancouver, Washington DC, Winnipeg.
• Asia: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Bangalore, Beijing, Beirut, Busan, Colombo, Chennai, Da Nang, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Haifa, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Jaipur, Jerusalem, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Manila, Mumbai, Osaka, Pattaya, Phuket, Pune, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Taipei, Tel Aviv, Tokyo.
• Europe: Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Basel, Bath, Belfast, Berlin, Bern, Bilbao, Birmingham, Bologna, Bordeaux, Bristol, Bruges, Brussels, Budapest, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Cork, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Florence, Frankfurt, Galway, Geneva, Girona, Glasgow, Granada, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ibiza, Istanbul, Krakow, Lausanne, Leeds, Leicester, Lisbon, Liverpool, London, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Marseille, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Naples, Newcastle, Nice, Norwich, Nottingham, Oslo, Oxford, Paris, Peterborough, Plymouth, Porto, Portsmouth, Prague, Reykjavik, Rhodes, Rome, Rotterdam, Salzburg, Seville, Sheffield, Sorrento, Southampton, Southend, Split, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm, Valencia, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw, York, Zagreb, Zurich.
• South Pacific (Oceania): Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington.

Additional ventures

In addition to magazines, travel books, and websites, Time Out launched Time Out Market, a chain of food courts, starting with the Time Out Market Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal. New Time Out Markets opened in Miami, New York, Chicago, Boston and Montreal in 2019; and in 2021 in Dubai. New locations are set to open in the future.

References

References

1. (25 November 2010). "Oakley Capital buys stake in Time Out". Growth Business.
2. (26 January 2015). "Gorkana meets...Time Out London". Gorkana.
3. (12 December 2011). "Time Out acquires Kelkoo Select". PE Hub.
4. (23 January 2012). "Time Out acquires Whatsonstage.com". Sports Techy.
5. (15 July 2014). "Worldwide brand of the year... again!". Time Out.
6. Robert Budden. (24 September 2012). "Time Out abandons its cover price". Financial Times.
7. ''Old Grey Whistle Test'' DVD Vol 3; Bob Harris speaking before Track 3
8. "Time Out Group Ltd.". Reference for business.
9. Phillips, A. (2007). "The Alternative Press". In K. Coyer, T. Dowmunt & A. Fountain (eds.), ''The Alternative Media Handbook'' (p. 54). London; New York: Routledge.
10. Lucia Moses. (27 June 2011). "Can Time Out's Tony Elliott weather the storm? The founder of iconic magazines cedes control to keep his dream alive". Adweek.
11. Reynolds, John. (6 December 2007). "Moving Beyond its City Limits".
12. "Pearce Marchbank – Biography".
13. Catherine Neilan. (17 March 2010). "Carlton, Wiley and Time Out official publishers for London Olympics". The Bookseller.
14. (26 November 2010). "Time Out publisher sells 50% stake". BBC News.
15. (26 September 2013). "Time Out makes capital gains as free magazine". Campaign.
16. Mark Sweney. (1 August 2012). "Time Out goes free, London edition of listings magazine to drop cover price". The Guardian.
17. (26 November 2012). "Free Time Out hits three-month circulation target in first month". Haymarket Media Group.
18. Caysey Welton. (2 April 2015). "Time Out New York Transforms Into A (Mostly) Free Weekly". [[Folio (magazine).
19. Arif Durrani. (11 March 2014). "Time Out hires Giles Coren as columnist". [[Haymarket Media Group.
20. Keith J. Kelly. (1 April 2015). "Time Out New York switching to all-free distribution model". New York Post.
21. Tobbitt, Charlotte. (23 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Time Out and Stylist free magazines go digital-only as readers stay home". [[Press Gazette]].
22. (13 April 2022). "End of an era for Time Out as it stops London print edition after 54 years". [[Campaign (magazine).
23. Maher, Bron. (22 June 2022). "Time Out London comes to 'happy, natural end' in print". Press Gazette.
24. Sabbagh, Dan. (25 November 2010). "Time Out sells out – 50% of once radical magazine goes to venture capital". The Guardian.
25. "Where in the world is Time Out?".
26. Ambrose, Jillian. (12 October 2016). "Time Out Market to open in Shoreditch in 2017". The Telegraph.
27. (13 Dec 2018). "Time Out To Open Market At Former Eurostar Terminal At London Waterloo". London Stock Exchange.
28. (2019-06-18). "Time Out Market Boston is now open in the Fenway". Boston.com.
29. "Time Out Market Boston is Open!".
30. (26 Jan 2023). "New Time Out Market - Barcelona".