Time Out founder Tony Elliott to receive the Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2017 British Media Awards on May 3 at the Hilton London
TheMediaBriefing, the intelligence platform for the global media industry, today announced that Tony Elliott, founder of media icon Time Out, is to receive the Outstanding Contribution to British Media Award at the British Media Awards.
The Outstanding Contribution to British Media Award recognises one of the country’s most distinguished and important media industry leaders and will be presented to Tony Elliott at the ceremony taking place on May 3 in London. It has previously been won by Felix Dennis, Alan Rusbridger and Dame Marjorie Scardino.
Time Out began in 1968, when Tony Elliott, then on a summer vacation from university, started creating the iconic magazine on his mother’s kitchen table, with £70 from his aunt. He went out on to the streets of London to hand it out himself. It was the start of a new kind of magazine, covering the best of what was happening in the city and addressing the issues of the day. Over the decades, Tony Elliott transformed Time Out into a global media and entertainment brand, which is now present in 108 cities and 39 countries and has a monthly global audience reach of 137 million, from London and New York to Tokyo and Sydney. Nearly 50 years on, its DNA remains intact. Time Out continues to inspire and enable people to make the most of the city.
Since 2010, Tony Elliott has been a Non-Executive Director of the Company, having previously served as Executive Chairman.
Neil Thackray, Founder and Chief Executive of theMediaBriefing commented: “Tony Elliott is an icon in British media and so is Time Out, a brand that became nothing less than part of the cultural DNA of the cities it serves. Tony’s work, passion, curiosity and enthusiasm are a unique and outstanding contribution to British media and we are privileged to honour him at the British Media Awards with the Outstanding Contribution Award.
“Tony created one of the best-known and trusted media and entertainment brands in the world. It continues to be the most authoritative resource on city living. He has also always been an active supporter of the arts in a voluntary capacity and as a trustee – for example of The Roundhouse, Somerset House and Create London. Add to this his incredible influence on the media industry: it was Time Out that challenged the long-standing duopoly over TV listings. He has consistently come up with out-of-the-box ideas to weather the challenges facing the media industry.”
Tony Elliott said: “I feel very honoured to receive the Outstanding Contribution Award. It’s something I certainly didn’t have in mind when handing out ‘Time Out’ for the first time in 1968. All over the world I now come across people who say that Time Out is their bible. At the very beginning I wanted to connect people in the city to places, people and events not covered by anyone else. The drive always to cover the best coupled with a wider mission to be comprehensive built the worldwide Time Out brand. I am so happy it is so strong, consistent and still independent, 50 years later.“
The British Media Awards honour those front-runners in British media and bring together the industry to celebrate the achievement of organisations who drive growth and challenge the status quo.