The first issue of Time Out appeared on the streets of London fifty years ago. A student of French at the University of Keele called Tony Elliott had the idea of “cataloguing what was going on in London”. With the help of a few friends, and a £70 birthday present from an aunt, Elliott produced the first magazine – in reality, just one sheet – on the kitchen table in his mother’s house in the summer holidays. He sold five thousand copies for one shilling each. Fifty years later, Time Out is the most famous listings magazine in the world and his empire covers 108 cities in 39 countries.
Essential Part
It took just a few years for Time Out to become an essential part of London life. It quickly established a reputation for radical politics. The band The Rolling Stones said that reaching the listings section was “like crossing a picket line!” Initially, the magazine’s goal was to publish the news that wouldn’t appear in the mainstream press, such as miscarriages of justice, the early gay rights and the women’s movement campaigns, bad landlords or racist behaviour by the police.
Making the News
The magazine itself produced news and the police regularly visited the newsroom. One reporter was deported as a threat to the security of the state and another was arrested on suspicion of being a terrorist. When Time Out used its rooftop for a demonstration on how realistic replica weapons were, armed police raided the magazine. A police helicopter flew over the building telling everyone to drop their weapons. In its pages, Time Out supported alternative theatre, film, music and comedy. It helped to make London more attractive for both residents and tourists.
A NEW DIRECTION
By the 1980s, however, Elliott had decided to reduce the political content of the magazine. The idea now was to explore the world of guides and export the Time Out name all over the world.
GUIDES GALORE
Over the next thirty years, Time Out published guides on food, drink, film, sex, drugs and fashion. City guides on Paris and New York and many other world capitals followed. In recent years, Time Out has expanded online, and the magazine’s business empire now covers mobile phones, apps, guides and live events. Time Out now has a global audience of 217 million per month. Elliott is still there … but he never finished that French degree.
