Digital out-of-home revenues posted double digit growth last year in the US
Last year, digital-out-of-home advertising revenues in the US grew 11 percent to $2.7bn, marking the medium’s fastest growth rate in five years, according to research firm PQ Media.
Out-of-home
The research states that digital out-of-home revenues “grew at an accelerated rate in 2015 just one year after recording the second slowest expansion (3.1 percent) since PQ Media began tracking digital out-of-home in 2000.” This year, PQ Media predicts digital out-of-home revenues to grow 8.7 percent.
PQ Media breaks down digital out-of-home media into two different segments: digital place-based networks (DPNs) are screens placed in venues such as movie theaters, malls, and taxis, while digital billboards & signage (DBBs) are typically placed near heavy traffic locations like highways.
According to the research, the DPN segment surged 13.8 percent to $1.8bn last year, while DBB revenue growth increased 5.6% to $894m.
Bolstered by National CineMedia, one of the largest DPN operators, in-theater advertising “rebounded sharply in 2015 from declines in three of the four prior years, while the corporate and healthcare vertical posted its strongest growth ever, and transit DPNs notched their fifth consecutive year of double-digital expansion.”
On the DBB side, two of the leaders in the category – Lamar Advertising and Clear Channel Outdoor – reported “challenging, but improved market conditions” while Outfront Media was “the primary growth driver among the market leaders, executing on its ambitious plan to double its digital signage footprint.”
Consumer exposure to digital out-of-home advertising increased for the fifth consecutive year in 2015, according to PQ Media, and is on track to grow at the fastest rate since 2011 this year. In 2015, consumer exposure to digital out-of-home media increased four percent to 54 minutes per week. Cinema exposure grew in 2015, “driven by a strong roster of blockbuster films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the research states.
Macro trends like “consumers spending more time outside their homes and the gradual improvement of the US economy should help brands open their media mix models to include more digital out-of-home during the next five years,” according to PQ Media, with the firm expecting the medium to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.3 percent between 2016 and 2020.