Time Out will cease publishing its print edition in London after 54 years, becoming the latest in a long line of media outlets to abandon their physical presence and go online-only.
Generations of Londoners used to rely on the listings and entertainment magazine to plan nights out, circle events in the magazine and read reviews of what’s happening in the capital, but the final print copies will now be printed at the end of June.
Time Out was originally a paid magazine, but became a free publication in 2012 after the internet undermined its traditional business model by making it easier to find event listings online.
It survived another decade as a downsized, ad-supported publication, but as a magazine that relied on being picked up by travelers and promoting opportunities to go out, it struggled during the pandemic, when people were working from home and places were closed.
Time Out’s parent company said the pandemic had accelerated a “transformation that was already underway” and that it would now focus on its online listings business, as well as its branded food courts around the world in cities like Lisbon and New York. A Time Out spokesman said he was consulting with the print publication’s staff about possible job losses.
Free print publications have struggled in recent years due to a variety of factors, including advertisers taking money from the format, the likelihood of travelers spending more time on their phones, and the rising cost of paper, which increases quickly when hundreds of thousands of copies. needs to be printed. Men’s magazine Shortlist and music paper NME have closed their physical editions, while London’s Evening Standard has racked up substantial losses in recent years.
Time Out was founded by Tony Elliott in 1968 as part of a wave of publishing that emerged in the era, which originally included radical political articles and investigative journalism. After retaining ownership until 2010, he allowed outside investment from a private equity firm that allowed the company to expand into other businesses.
Upon his death in 2020, the company described Elliot as a “visionary publisher” who was “a tireless champion of the city’s culture.”
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