| |
16.06.10
Time Out wins two PPA Awards and named 'The Best International Consumer Magazine in the World'
Time Out Kuala Lumpur is proud to announce that Time Out has been named as The International Consumer Magazine of the Year 2010 by the Periodical Publisher's Association (PPA) at the annual awards ceremony in London last week.
The PPA Awards are the most coveted awards in the magazine industry, the 'Oscars' for magazines, showcasing excellence, rewarding innovation, and providing the benchmark by which the magazine industry judges itself. Each year, finalists and other industry professionals gather together to celebrate the successes of the past year at one of the most spectacular events in the industry calendar.
The PPA Awards 2010 were presented at a glamorous ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on 16 June 2010.
"As part of the international family, Time Out Kuala Lumpur reflects the editorial independence that is the core of Time Out magazines worldwide. It's great to see that our efforts are not only recognised by our readers but also our industry peers, the PPA", says a very excited Lim Chee Wah, the Editor for Time Out Kuala Lumpur.
Tony Elliot, who started Time Out in London 42 years ago with a postal order donated by his aunt, released the following statement to express his pride and excitement at achieving the highest possible accolade with the Time Out brand and dedicated the win to the huge Time Out team around the world, including right here in Kuala Lumpur.
PPA Awards – Tony Elliott's statement.
It turns out PPA Awards are like London buses – you wait ages for one and then two come along at once. At this year's PPA Awards ceremony in London on Wednesday June 16 2010, Time Out was declared the winner in two of the 22 categories: the only publication to take home more than one award.
Michael Hodges, whose 'Slice of life' column has been a cornerstone of the magazine for over seven years, was declared Consumer Columnist of the Year and Time Out was named International Consumer Magazine of the Year. Michael's award is well deserved: his column is inventive, inviting and often hilarious and he is one of Time Out London's most original voices.
I am particularly proud of the international award. For us, honours don't come much bigger than this. The recognition of the PPA just goes to show what a robust template Time Out has.
This is a milestone on the very long journey from Time Out's first commitment to a non-London city publication with Time Out Paris Passion in 1988, which was followed by the launch of Time Out New York in 1995. The International Consumer Magazine of the Year award reflects all the aspects of everything being produced today around the world today under Time Out brand coming together.
In 2004, there were five Time Out magazines in the world publishing on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. As of June 2010, this number had reached 35 with a further 22 annual and quarterly magazines and six Time Out Kids magazines.
Time Out now has a presence in 40 cities in 33 countries and publishes in 14 languages, meaning well over five million people depend on Time Out to discover the latest happenings in their city.
In publishing's annus horribilis last year, Time Out bucked a worldwide trend of closures and downscaling by launching 16 new publications – including seven new city titles (Bahrain, Budapest in English and Hungarian, Doha, Jerusalem, Porto and Shanghai), three paid-for Time Out Kids magazines (Chicago, Beirut and Abu Dhabi), two Time Out for Visitors magazines (Malaysia and Barcelona), two online launches (Tokyo and Kyoto) and the brand new Time Out Insider Guide series, which debuted in Buenos Aires and Abuja.
2009 wasn't just about new launches – the year also saw our key cities cement their positions as market leaders. Time Out London was one of the very few UK magazines to see its newsstand sales increase over the ABC period. Time Out Lisbon also saw a rise in newsstand sales, shooting up by 16 per cent, and advertising revenue, up by 31 per cent, while Time Out New York's circulation topped 150,000.
As successful as our year was in print, it is online where things really rocketed. An average of 5.2 million unique users visit Time Out sites monthly and in 2009 there were more than 287 million page views globally. This – along with the launch of successful iPhone apps in London, New York, Chicago, Dubai and Sydney – demonstrates Time Out's transition from a magazine company to an information company.
Great cities deserve great magazines and Time Out's commitment to independence, intelligence and editorial integrity has already helped it reflect and shape the culture of cities around the globe. All our magazines are driven by local knowledge and content produced in and for that city. This is not a brand that simply provides a package of content for others to re-label or translate; Time Out magazines are 100 per cent local and driven by experienced editorial teams on the ground, yet always of consistent quality thanks to Time Out International's templates, brand values and stringent quality control.
The result is a truly international brand you can trust. I am proud to say that from Abu Dhabi to Zagreb, Time Out readers can benefit from the same level of insider knowledge that Time Out London's readers have been enjoying for more than 40 years.
My personal congratulations to everyone in the Time Out network for all their hard work and their contribution to the continuing worldwide success and recognition of the Time Out brand.
|
|
