Outdoor digital creeps up on print

Digital revenue now accounts for 49.8 per cent of revenue for the Out of Home (OOH) industry as shown in the results from the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) for the second quarter of 2018, up from 45.4 per cent for the same period the year before.

The industry as a whole has seen a double digit increase in revenue of 14.2 per cent on net media revenue year on year in Q2, to $225.7m this year, up from $197.5m in 2017. While the print slice of total outdoor advertising shrank, spend was still up, by $5m, from Q2 2016.

Digital revenue for the quarter was $112.4m, with print at $113.3m, compared to this time last year, where digital was $89.6m, and print at $107.8m.

The results come following two major shake ups in the OOH industry, with oOh!media winning the bidding war for Adshel for $570m and French giant JCDecaux securing APN Outdoor for $1.2bn. The ACCC is set to rule on both purchases on August 30.

Charmaine Moldrich, CEO, OMA says, “Out of Home is now firmly embedded in its role to be the always on place that people go to, to stay connected. Our digital network is providing the flexible, time-sensitive solution advertisers require, and traditional inventory will always deliver consistent place-based, broadcast messages.

Even as the ground shifts underneath us, the industry will continue to thrive and it is an exciting time to be part of this growth.”

[Related: JCDecaux to buy APN]

Roadside Billboards (over and under 25 sqm) for Q2 2018 is generating revenue of $97.1m, up 24.3 per cent from 78.1m for the same period last year. The category grew 17 per cent from the first quarter of 2018, from $82.7m. Roadside Other (street furniture, bus/tram externals, small format) produced $60.4m, up 6 per cent from $56.8m in Q2 2017 and 6 per cent from $56.7m.

Transport (including airports) is at $36.5m, up 16 per cent from $31.3m last year, and 9 per cent from $33.3m in the first quarter. Retail, Lifestyle and Other saw revenue of $31.8m for the second quarter, up 1 per cent from $31.3m last year and increasing from its dip in the first quarter, where it was $30.3m.

For many major outdoor advertisers, digital is now generating more revenue than print. oOh!media saw its digital revenue grow to 59.8 per cent to $227.4m in the last full year, surging from $153.3m in 2016. At QMS, print advertising flatlined in the last half year, while its digital revenue became 66 per cent of its total revenue.

Print remains the majority income source for APN Outdoor at 62 per cent of its media, although the company’s digital revenue rose by 13 per cent in FY17, while print stabilised. Similarly, Adshel received most of its revenue from print, but its digital sales grew by 23 per cent in 2017 from the year before, while its print sector produced $110.9m, slipping from $112.1m in 2016.

Last year, the ACCC knocked back a proposed $1.6bn merger between oOh! and APN, the two largest players in Australian outdoor media by revenue and reach, with concerns about dominance over the market.

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