Time Out Group Limited: Research About Magazine Essay

History

The Time Out Group Limited is one of the leading publishing companies in the United Kingdom. Having its headquarters in London, it specialises in publishing city guides. The Group’s premier magazine was Time Out London that was launched in 1968. Its owner was inspired to name it Time Out when he came across the new David Brubeck album of the same name. During the four decades since then, the Time Out Group has spread out into diverse other publications meant for different cities around the world and has supplemented that with an identical presence online. The Time Out Group presently has 180 employees.

The Time Out Group experienced a serious setback in 1980 when its staff went on a strike to protest against Elliott’s practice of offering more salaries to entice efficient new editors. Gaining steady momentum, the strike reached its peak in May 1981 when the staff staged a walk out. This forced a stoppage of Time Out productions. The crisis went on for four months during which time no Time Out magazines hit the newsstands. Elliott finally managed to reconcile differences with all but 15 of the striking employees. The 15 were terminated.¹

Starting with Time Out London, the Time Out magazines expanded worldwide. Time Out Paris began in 1993, followed by Time Out New York in 1995 and Time Out Chicago in 2005. The Time Out magazine for a city lists comprehensive information regarding that city ranging from cultural events and television programs to shopping tips and general news. Plans are underway to start Time Out editions for cities like Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The second major publication of the Time Out Group was the 1980s magazine Sell Out which concentrated on shopping. Unfortunately, it did not do well, and was quickly scrapped. This was followed by the third major publication Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide in 1982. In its fourth major move, the Group launched a series of London-specific publications such as the Time Out Film Guide, London for Children, Pubs & Bars, Student Guide, and

Gay London. Lastly, Time Out has given legal authorisation for its format to be launched as local monthly language versions in several prominent world cities such as Mumbai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and St. Petersburg. In its fifth major move, Time Out launched its first Internet Web Site in the mid 1990s. It then went on to team up with DatingDirect.com to establish a dating service supplement for its timeout.com site in 2002.²

Ownership

The ownership of the Time Out Group is controlled by one individual – Tony Elliot. Apart from Time Out New York and Time Out Chicago the rest of the publications are totally owned by the Time Out Group. Time Out New York has a different owner holding 55% of its ownership while Time Out Chicago is also owned by Joe Mansueto who controls a 50% stake in it. In other cases, the Time Out brand is licensed in different cities of the world.³

Target Audience

Given the fact that its premier and second major publications {Time Out London and Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide} are London-specific as are Time Out Film Guide, London for Children, Pubs & Bars, Student Guide and Gay London, the people of London constitute the majority audience. Different sections of society have reasons to feel pleased with one of the magazines. Men looking for a place to relax or celebrate can pick and choose the most appropriate pubs or bars for the occasion.

Business people, particularly those entertaining guests from other cities, can opt for either choosing the appropriate restaurant from the Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide, or, better still, can discuss the various options in the magazine with the guests themselves. Women, who must have been particularly incensed when Sellout was summarily dumped, still have the Time Out Film Guide to plot ways and means to spend entertaining hours with friends. Teens, always traditionally belligerently certain that they find nothing in common with their elders, this time have less to bicker about as the Student Guide

lies alongside other adult Time Out magazines on the coffee tables of their homes. The usually noncommittal children have reason to cheer as well with London for Children issued especially for their reading pleasure. Last but not the least, that long neglected and only just emerged group from their hitherto closet, the gay community, can proudly count on the Time Out Company for launching Gay London in their honour.

The audience targeted by Time Out editions in other Western cities is nearly the same as the one in London. The audience targeted in third world countries generates possibly the best response because it is exposed to culinary delights and entertainment events that are seldom witnessed in those nations.

Circulation

The first Time Out publication {Time Out London} emerged in 1968 as a single, fold-out sheet newsletter of which 5,000 copies were printed, circulated and quickly sold out at 1 shilling each. By 1972 its circulation had already crossed 30,000 and it became well established as London’s leading listings magazine. Before the strike of its employees in 1980, circulation of Time Out London stood at 85,000. It dipped badly as a result of the strike but restored parity at 85,000 once the strike was over. Peak circulation was achieved in the early 1990s with the figure hovering around 105,000.

But with the launching of the Time Out Internet Web Sites, circulation has dipped. While it is now estimated at 85,000,⁴ circulation is set to irrevocably drop steadily in the face of two problems: the first is the Internet’s ever growing massive influence, and the second is the emergence of a variety of free newspaper supplements like The Guardian’s Guide, The Times’ The Knowledge and The Evening Standard’s Metro Life.⁵ Unlike the London version, Time Out New York has done significantly better, reaching circulation in excess of 125,000.⁶ The 48 city guides sell 250,000 copies annually. ⁷

Financial Resources

The Time Out Group has an annual turnover of £ 20 million {$ 34.4 million}.⁸ Tony Elliott has personally confirmed that Time Out Group was worth more than £ 30 million {$ 51.6 million} in which the magazine brand was the most vital part. Investment from the Time Out Group and Joe Mansueto was £ 2.2 million {$ 4 million} each for Time Out Chicago. Expansion into Time Out Los Angeles and Time Out San Francisco is expected to cost the Time Out Group £ 9 million {$ 15 million} and £ 10 million {$ 17 million} respectively.⁹ A steady source of income comes in from the sale of the 48 city guides as well as the license frees from local editions sold in various cities of the world.¹⁰

Evaluation of the Time Out Group

The Time Out Group has not been as successful as it could have been solely due to reticence of its owner Tony Elliott. Elliott simply does not want to relinquish control in the business to others. There have been several times when he has wavered and announced his intention to sell a part of the business, but this was swiftly followed by a change of mind.¹¹ Perhaps the closest he came to selling was when his former school colleague and Virgin Records owner Richard Branson offered to purchase Time out for $ 750,000 in 1981 – an offer that Elliott refused.¹²

Elliott knows that he is wrong and readily admits to it: “My equity is not doing anything, and in a perfect world it would make sense to bring in a financial partner to take 15 to 30 percent.” What Elliott does not say is that such prospective investors would demand control, and this is one aspect Elliott is not willing to hand over. He revels in his powers as Chairman and is known to have nonchalantly acknowledged having sacked 12 editors so far.¹³

Given his track record of adopting a confrontationist stance towards his employees during the strike Elliott was lucky that the 15 employees he sacked could not develop their own magazine City Lights significantly with the result that it soon collapsed.¹⁴ Still, while it lasted, City Lights must surely have been a source of competitive tension, reduction of readership and loss to the Time Out Group.

The second main criticism leveled at Elliott is that he has let Time Out surrender its early pervasive advantage in preference of consumerism. Elliott admits that there is an element of fairness in the criticism but feels that Time Out’s ultimate priority is to mirror the happenings in London, and there is no escaping from the fact that public perception has undergone a huge change since the Seventies. As a result, Elliott feels that Time Out lives up to its social commitment by supporting and introducing people to “the new, the fresh and the innovative” in the arts.¹⁵

By deciding not to bring in money from outside investors, Time Out has paid the price in the form of an excruciatingly slow overseas expansion. The organisation has routinely churned out turnovers of an average £ 20 million {$ 34.4 million} per year with topsy-turvy results: posting profits one year followed by incurring losses the following year. Moreover, the Group has hardly any worthwhile financial assets outside London.

However, Elliott continues in his ultra-conservative ways, considering himself as a “long-term builder” who wants Time Out to “remain independent indefinitely” because the “readers respect the independence of the magazines.” ¹⁶

References

ANON. (N.d). Time Out Group Ltd.: Fundinguniverse. Web.

ROWAN, D. 2005. Interview Tony Elliott, Time Out Publisher: Evening Standard. Web.

SABBAGH, D. 2004. Time Out Owner Will Not Loosen Grip on the Reins: The Times. Web.

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16. ROWAN, D. Interview Tony Elliott, Time Out Publisher: Evening Standard.