Why this CEO says free-to-air TV advertising stands to lose $500m
The chief executive of Australia’s largest out-of-home media company, ASX-listed oOh!media, says the decline of free-to-air TV can boost the billboard and digital screen advertising market by $500 million.
Cathy O’Connor said a market-wide downturn in the ad market had grown outdoor media’s share of the almost $9 billion media agency ad sector from 11.7 per cent in 2022 to 14 per cent so far this year.
Cathy O’Connor: “A little bit of disruption goes a long way.”
Asked what the ceiling on the outdoor industry’s share would be, she said: “We think 18 to 20 per cent is a reasonable benchmark.
“We are starting to see out-of-home being viewed as a safe bet in terms of mass reach audiences which aren’t being fragmented.
“A couple of obvious points – the free-to-air TV market is three times the size of the out-of-home market. A little bit of disruption goes a long way there.”
OOh!media is one of Australia’s biggest listed media companies. Its market capitalisation is $780 million – about $280 million more than Seven West Media, the owner of Network Seven.
The media agency advertising market was worth $8.9 billion in 2022, according to figures shared by Standard Media Index at the beginning of this year. Outdoor advertising hit $1.06 billion in 2019, before pandemic lockdowns sent it plummeting to $668.9 million. It recovered to $1.06 billion in 2022, and has continued to grow revenue this year.
Television advertising, meanwhile, was worth $4.2 billion in 2022, including $3.4 billion in free-to-air TV, industry group ThinkTV reported. It was $3.43 billion in 2021.
At its half-year results presentation on Monday, oOh!media posted 7 per cent growth in revenue to $296.6 million and adjusted earnings before interest, tax,
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