TMCnet News

Time Out acquires Whatsonstage.com
[January 23, 2012]

Time Out acquires Whatsonstage.com


Jan 23, 2012 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Time Out Group, the leading source of information for arts and entertainment, has acquired Whatsonstage.com. Whatsonstage.com is the UK's foremost dedicated theatre website, providing theatre news features and ticket sales. The website is ranked as the number one performing arts website in the UK by Alexa and number three by Experian Hitwise. The purchase is the latest step in Time Out's rapid development as a digital media group and represents a major investment by Time Out in theatre, one of its most popular content areas. It also furthers its commitment to UK-wide coverage.



Whatsonstage.com is the Group's third acquisition in three months as part of its online growth strategy and follows the company's recent acquisitions of daily offers business Kelkoo Select and high-end lifestyle club Keynoir.

The Whatsonstage.com website and business will be retained as a separate but complementary brand within the Time Out Group and will continue to be run by Terri Paddock, Whatsonstage.com's managing and editorial director, who has been with the business since its launch in 1996. She and her team will be working closely with Time Out Editor in Chief Tim Arthur and e-commerce director Paul Shaw.


CEO of Time Out David King says: "Whatsonstage.com is an important addition to our theatre and ticket sales business, and the acquisition coincides with the recent launch of our transactional and ticketing platform." Whatsonstage.com's Terri Paddock adds: "The Whatsonstage.com team is thrilled to join the Time Out portfolio. The Group's growth plans, digitally and internationally, are hugely ambitious and we're excited to play a part in them. We relish the opportunity to communicate our passion for all things theatre to a much wider audience across a range of devices." For more information on Time Out, contact Madelaine Bennett on 020 7813 6180 or email [email protected] About Whatsonstage.com Whatsonstage.com, which celebrates its 15th birthday this year, is the UK's biggest and best theatre website. Ranked as number 1 in the UK by Alexa and number 3 by Hitwise amongst all performing arts websites, and one of the top 100 arts tweeters by The Times, the website comprises a listings database of some 5,500-plus performances nationwide, as well as theatre news, reviews, first night photos, podcasts, video footage, interviews, gossip, blogs, ticket offers and lively discussion boards. The audience represents the most avid theatregoing demographic available online.

More than 180,000 theatregoers subscribe to one of Whatsonstage.com's email newsletters, while 20,000 follow it on Twitter and over 500,000 visit the website each month, generating over five million monthly ad impressions. Whatsonstage.com also runs the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club, born out of its packed theatre events schedule in which the team takes hundreds of people at a time to top London shows.

Its annual Whatsonstage.com Awards, the "theatregoers' choice", is the only major theatre prize-giving decided across the board by audiences and now ranks alongside the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards as one of the industry's most recognised accolades. More than 50,000 people will have voted in the 2012 Whatsonstage.com Awards, which are sponsored by sponsored by Time Out London and culminate with a sell-out concert and ceremony at the West End's Prince of Wales Theatre on Sunday 19 February.

Launched by Emap Online in 1996, Whatsonstage.com (www.whatsonstage.com) was acquired via a management buy-out in October 2000 and has been run independently since then. Madeleine Lloyd Webber and the Really Useful Group became private shareholders in the company in 2005 and 2008 respectively. Time Out Group has now acquired 100% of the company.

For more press information on Whatsonstage.com or the Whatsonstage.com Awards, please contact Natalie Orringe, Beth Gaudin or Clare Allison at Teamspirit Public Relations on 020 7360 7877 or email [email protected] About Time Out Time Out was founded in 1968 in London by Tony Elliott and has since grown into a leading international multi-channel media company that spans 35 cities across 24 countries and provides the very best inspiration, information and booking opportunities in arts, entertainment, culture, food & drink, and shopping.

Time Out is uniquely positioned as a provider of local information and cultural guidance to consumers through a distribution network which incorporates city magazines, a comprehensive online presence, mobile applications, travel guides, events and partnerships. Time Out has a worldwide audience of over 17 million* across all these channels.

Time Out has experienced high growth in digital, with global unique users per month up year-on-year to over 8 million, of which just over 3 million are in London. Time Out online goes far beyond simply reproducing the features of the magazines, and delivers a vast array of unique local content and cultural insight, also enabling consumer bookings, and giving wide opportunity for engaging and debating with its audience.

Time Out magazines are published in 34 cities. In addition, Time Out also publishes a broad range of guides, including city guides to some 50 cities, translated into 10 languages, as well as a number of other entertainment, culture, and consumer guides.

Time Out Live - a new division of the brand - has quickly grown to be synonymous with unique experiences and unmissable events, all curated by Time Out.

Our international expansion, and the success of our licensees, has continued to be a source of pride at Time Out - and the company was particularly gratified to have received recognition for its achievements within the industry, having scooped the International Consumer Magazine of the Year title at the Periodical Publishers Association Awards two years in a row, in 2010 and 2011.

To complement the acclaim, Time Out has also seen some incredibly exciting international developments in recent times, including a global partnership deal with Nokia and the launch of iPhone and Android apps (with more than 1.2 million downloads and counting).

Within the past year there have been Time Out launches in new cities including So Paulo and Melbourne, and so far over 100,000 people have attended Time Out Live events across the globe - including a Q&A session with the legendary Hollywood director Oliver Stone in London; a set from globetrotting DJ Gilles Peterson at the Time Out Caf in Tokyo; and the premier of the hit Australian gangster film 'Animal Kingdom' in Sydney.

Time Out's core goal is to be the number one trusted choice for consumers seeking inspiration, information and booking opportunities relating to arts, entertainment and culture in the world's key cities.

Madelaine Bennett UK PR and Events Marketing Manager [email protected] Time Out Tel: 020 7813 6180 Universal House, 251 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7AB www.timeout.com This month at Time Out London: Welcome to 2012! Check out what's on with our 2012 London culture preview: http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/2062/whats-on-in-london-in-2012) Budge those January blues by planning your summer holidays - browse our great range of guides: http://shop.timeout.com/) Follow the official Facebook page and Twitter feed for Time Out London www.facebook.com/timeoutlondon www.twitter.com/timeoutlondon Time Out is the definitive source for going out in over 50 of the world's major cities.

Wherever you find Time Out, you'll find the very best that city has to offer. www.timeout.com/london Time Out Group Limited: reg no 2250222 VAT No: 523047673 Time Out Magazine Limited: reg no 00959388 VAT No: 233109402 Time Out Guides Limited: reg no 3210882 VAT No: 672597394 Time Out Digital: reg no 1782049 VAT No: 672177031 Time Out International: reg no 4666309 VAT no 8355079915 Registered offices for all the above companies is Universal House, 251 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7AB ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected].

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]