Out of Home falls by 24% in first quarter

Spending on outdoor advertising is on the road to recovery, according to the Outdoor Media Association, which says the March figures are 18 per cent up on February.

However, outdoor spend was down by 24 per cent for the first quarter of the year compared with the same quarter last year, which was the final quarter before Covid smashed through the economy.

The Out of Home (OOH) industry is reporting $158.1m spent on outdoor media from January to March this year, down from $207.8m in 2020.

The amount spent on outdoor print in the first quarter dropped from $90m to $67.8m.

Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue continues to creep up at the expense of print, it now accounts for 57.1 per cent of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 56.7 per cent for the same period last year.

Charmaine Moldrich, CEO, OMA, said, “Q1 2020 was the last quarter where the industry posted growth, prior to feeling the effects of the pandemic. Like the economy we were worst hit in quarter two of 2020.

“I am relieved both for the industry and the economy to see green shoots and improvement,” she said.

“The results from March this year are particularly heartening, with revenue up 18 per cent from February. The rise is coupled with the latest consumer confidence index, that is now just 0.2 points below the December level, which was a 10-year high.

"I believe our recovery will continue into 2021 as audience numbers stabilise, with people coming back outdoors, as well as workers returning to offices and their daily commutes,” she said.