Outdoor media HY spend down by a third

The Out of Home (OOH) industry half year net media revenue results showed a 35 per cent slump in spend for the first half of 2020 as Covid took a lump out of marketing budgets.

Total net media revenue was $289.1m, down 35.4 per cent from $447.3m for the same period in 2019. The fall was entirely due to the spend on outdoor print in the April to June quarter collapsing by two thirds, plummeting from $108m in the same quarter last year to $36.7m, as Covid closed much of the economy.

In the final quarter overall outdoor spend including digital and print was down to $82.1m, from $234.6m in the second quarter last year. Digital's share of the market increased slightly, with print dropping from 46 per cent to 44.7 per cent.

However, the June figures saw a bounce back of 23 per cent, suggesting that as the country comes out of lockdown, spending on outdoor media will recover.

By category, transport suffered the biggest hit with its revenue falling by almost 50 per cent to $44.1m compared with the 2019 figure. Retail lifestyle and other was down by 40 per cent to $37.3m. Billboard spend was down by 35 per cent to $129.7m, while street furniture, bus/tram externals and small format was down by 40 per cent to $78m.