US out-of-home advertising revenues have been on the rise in recent years, and those increases are being seen on a global level too. New data from PQ Media indicates that out-of-home (OOH) ad revenues increased by 6.2% last year, the fastest rate since 2007. By comparison, global OOH ad revenues grew by 5.4% in 2015, while projected revenue growth for this year is expected to match the 2016 level.
The report suggests that real-time information via digital signage during last year’s Olympics had a key role to play in the ad spending increase, with this in turn increasing consumers’ engagement with OOH media.
Indeed, consumer exposure to OOH increased by 1.5% for the second consecutive year, reaching almost 66 minutes per week last year.
Of the $49.23 billion in OOH advertising spend last year, the largest portion (almost $35 billion) went to traditional OOH, which includes static billboards, street furniture and transit posters. That represented a gain of 4.1% from 2015.
Digital out-of-home, meanwhile, increased by an estimated 12.6% to almost $12 billion. That was its fastest growth rate since 2011. Powered by that growth, digital now represents almost one-quarter (24.1%) share of all OOH revenues, up from about one-sixth (16.8%) in 2010.
In other highlights from the report:
- Digital place-based networks (DPNs) was the larger of the two digital categories, with more than $8 billion in revenues last year (+12.2%);
- Digital billboards & signage, the smaller of the two, rose by a faster 13.7% to more than $3.7 billion;
- Ambient OOH – the smallest category – grew by 7.8% to $2.8 billion;
- The 5 largest OOH media companies are JCDecaux, Clear Channel Outdoor, Outfront Media, Lamar and Focus Media, and each exceeded $1 billion in revenues last year;
- The US is the largest OOH market, with revenues almost reaching $9 billion in 2015;
- Australia was the fastest-growing market in overall (+15%) OOH growth, and also in DOOH ad revenue growth; and
- Transit was the “hottest location category” owing to airport upgrades, digital signage deployments on rail systems, and growing taxi networks.
