Out-of-Home Revenues Jump 4.5%

Out-of-home advertising revenue grew faster than the economy, as well as many other media, in the second quarter, rising 4.5% to just over $1.9 billion, according to the latest figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

The increase is due, in part, to the expansion of digital out-of-home advertising, but OAAA executives also credited the positive impact of new OOH advertising audience measurement, in the form of the Traffic Audit Bureau's "Eyes On" ratings.

These improvements are helping attract new advertisers to the medium, said OAAA president,CEO Nancy Fletcher, with 12,000 new advertisers in the second quarter compared to the first. In terms of categories, a separate earnings announcement from Clear Channel Outdoor, the nation's largest outdoor advertising company, indicated strong growth in banking and financial services, telecommunications, health care and business services.

Competitor Lamar Advertising Co. pointed to strong spending increases in the automotive category, continuing into the third quarter, offset somewhat by decreases in hospitality and real estate.

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As noted, out-of-home is faring better than many other media. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, total ad spend in consumer magazines edged up 1.6% in the second quarter, while total radio advertising revenues edged up 1%, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. Most big newspaper publishers reported results that were flat or slightly down.

Outdoor's strong performance is partly due to rapid expansion of DOOH displays, with Clear Channel Outdoor alone installing 96 new digital billboards in the first half of the year, bringing the company's total to 711.

Lamar's second-quarter results show that digital expansion was by far the largest area of capital expenditure for that company, and the total number of digital bulletins owned by Lamar increased to 694.

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