Entertainment and listings magazine Time Out Hong Kong is set to return as a free print publication this autumn.
Its fortnightly print edition disappeared from shelves in January, in what was the latest blow to English-language media in the city. However, it maintained a web presence as London’s Time Out Group took charge of operations from Hong Kong’s Rubicon Communications.
Timothy Webb, managing director of Time Out Asia, told HKFP that it aimed to be the leading consumer lifestyle brand in the city: “We will do this by changing the distribution model, going free, significantly increasing the print run and rolling our new content formats across print and digital.”
He added that the website will be delivering more content as the brand expands into video and, potentially, audio.
“[O]ur plan is to distribute copies by hand at major transit points and areas of high consumer footfall as well as through hotels, bars, restaurants and clubs.”
Webb said that there have been no job losses following the upheaval, and an expanded team will soon relocate to new premises.
Time Out Hong Kong was launched in April 2008 and had a circulation of 40,000. It won multiple accolades including several from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA). Founded in 1968, the British magazine operates in 39 countries and 107 cities worldwide.
Time Out’s London and Beijing editions are already distributed free-of-charge.
