• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 3, 2008

Out-of-home video networks will earn $2.25 billion in ad revenue in 2011--almost double 2007's $1.26 billion, according to a new report by eMarketer. The report gives another boost to the outdoor advertising industry, which has been riding high in recent years. Out-of-home video networks are poised to become the biggest "alternative" outdoor ad medium, versus traditional billboard and poster displays.

The report notes that outdoor advertising in general is free from the Internet competition stalking TV, newspapers and other traditional media. Ben Macklin, a senior analyst with eMarketer and the author of the report, wrote: "While other traditional advertising sectors are struggling to adapt to increasingly fragmented audiences and changing media consumption patterns, the out-of-home advertising sector is actually reaping the benefits of the evolving media landscape."

The eMarketer report also cites a study by Veronis Suhler Stevenson, which claims that U.S. consumers spend much more time away from home than they did 30 years ago, due to a combination of proliferating leisure possibilities and increasing commute times. The daily commute time has doubled in the last three decades--to about an hour--because of growing congestion and booming suburban developments.

Place-based video networks in particular will enjoy a boom, due to decreasing prices for flat-panel LCD screens and increased penetration of Internet protocol and wireless technology, which allows advertisers to feed content to displays more easily and with greater flexibility.