Time Outspoken
Rodrigues, left, and Etheridge
To The Ivy, and Time Out Sydney’s fifth birthday party where bosses Justin Etheridge and Michael Rodrigues were sharing the secrets of the title’s success.
Etheridge, who once worked on Time Out in the Middle East, was quick to correct those who might suspect that some Australian cities might have too little going on to justify a local edition as the magazine’s expansion continues. He said: “Having launched Time Out in Doha and Muscat, I can reassure everybody that Brisbane and Adelaide hold no fears for us.”
Etheridge also shared some of the tribulations faced by the title in its early days, including the curious deals he discovered that the big media players had locked in place.
He started to tell the audience: “We secured, finally, a fairly high level meeting with the glorious state of New South Wales. Picture if you will, two very excited would-be publishers prepared to wax lyrical about what Time Out could do for the city. Sadly for us, and in order to give the taxy payer full value, it turned out the state had struck an exclusive deal with News Limited. We were fairly deflated that day..”
Rodrgiues hastily interrupted: “Before Justin continues and totally destroys our client base, I’d like to thank the state government of New South Wales whose most influential decision makers are here this evening.”
Which presumably means they managed to unstrike the exclusive deal.
Dr Mumbo views it as a triumph for media diversity. He hopes the politicians do too.
