Time Out New York is ending its 25-year-old print edition as part of a global retrenchment by the London-based parent company due to the coronavirus.
At its peak prior to the pandemic, the sassy magazine — a guide to local events and culture — had been published in over 40 cities around the work. Post pandemic, it’s down to a handful, including London, Madrid and Barcelona, Julio Bruno, CEO of Time Out Group, told the Financial Times.
“The group is unlikely to resume printing in the US and Portugal with other territories under review by management,” Bruno said.
It resumed its first print edition after the pandemic started in London as a tribute to founder Tony Elliott, who passed away last month. Elliott had started with a single publication in London in 1968 and launched Time Out New York in 1995. It was popular among young people with listings that mined cheap entertainment and less expensive dining and bar venues.
Initially, it was a paid circulation title, but in 2015 after a successful conversion to free circulation in London, TONY followed suit in New York and initially paid newsstand hawkers to hand out the weekly magazine for free at subways and other transport terminals.
The company even before the pandemic had been struggling: The FT reported losses last year of $26.7 million. But despite the print pullback, the company digital editions in 328 cities in 58 countries and that effort will continue, Bruno said.
The print edition in London will initially be monthly and will circulate 250,000 copies. “We’ll have to see what the public and advertisers want,” he said.
