Industry Snapshot

Outdoor advertising, sometimes referred to as out of home advertising, is made up of more than 100 different formats, totaling $6.99 billion in annual revenues in 2008. The major categories are billboards, street furniture, transit, and alternative media.

Billboards are a part of American life, directing travelers to destinations, providing an artistic backdrop to the American highway, and helping hundreds of thousands of small businesses.

Traditional roadside billboards remain the predominant form of outdoor advertising in the US with 66 percent of total annual revenue. Today, billboard revenue is comprised of 73 percent local ads, 18 percent national ads, and 9 percent public service ads.

Street furniture is made up of formats such as bus shelters, newsracks, mall kiosks, and telephone booth advertising. This affordable and often visually arresting form of outdoor advertising is especially popular in urban centers. Additionally, this form of advertising provides welcome benefits to communities, as street furniture companies are often responsible for building and maintaining the shelters people use while waiting for the bus.

Transit advertising is effective advertising placed on anything which moves, such as buses, subway advertising, truckside, and taxis. Airport advertising, which helps businesses reach the captive audience while traveling, is also included in this category. Municipalities particularly like this form of advertising, as it provides welcome revenue to city and port authorities.

Finally, alternative advertising is on the cutting edge of out of home. This form of advertising includes ads in stadiums, on gas pumps, bike racks, rest areas, and other non-traditional formats. Alternative advertising provides a unique way to reach consumers in places they may not expect, making it all the more effective.

Street furniture, transit, and alternative media formats comprise 34 percent of total outdoor revenue in the US. Some of these formats have a higher percentage of national ads than traditional billboards.

The outdoor industry includes more than 2,100 operators in 50 states representing the four major outdoor format categories. These outdoor media companies range from public, multinational media corporations to small, independent, family-owned businesses.