The Case for Scale: Why OOH’s Biggest Players Still Drive Growth

By Brent Baer, Publisher, OOH Today

There’s an interesting belief that the future of out of home belongs primarily to independents — that fragmentation, not consolidation, will fuel the next wave of growth.

It’s an appealing idea.

But history tells a different story. Some of you may not like this, but it’s the way it is. Hey, as OOH Today has the largest total of OOH owners as subscribers and readers, including the largest number of Independent OOH owners, this is not an easy story to tell. OOH Today doesn’t hit the easy button. We leave that to the ‘other guys’ who continually share narratives of sunshine and lollypops. But that’s not the real world, is it?  ‘Zippity doo dah!’

OOH Today has the largest total of OOH owners as subscribers and readers,
including the largest number of Independent OOH owners.

For the past four decades, the most meaningful innovation in OOH has come from scaled operators willing to invest capital, take regulatory risk, and modernize the medium.

The digitization of roadside inventory wasn’t built one board at a time. It required billions in investment from companies like Lamar Advertising, Clear Channel Outdoor, and Outfront Media. Innovation is expensive. Lamar and Clear Channel were the earliest innovators in introducing digital large-format into their markets. I’m being direct, OUTFRONT, but it’s been noted that you were last to the digital billboard party. Remember the Cleveland Clear Channel Digital Network in the early 2000’s?  It was a thing.

…you were last to the digital billboard party

Programmatic DOOH infrastructure, national buying platforms, audience-based measurement — these were not grassroots movements. They were large-scale changes funded and rolled out widely.

Scale created credibility. And credibility brought national dollars. How many independents can say they landed national business at scale without the help of national buying services? If you’re being honest, and if you were around in the early 2000’s, the answer is zero, nada, zilch, and zip. I had Independents phoning me while I was with Posterscope as late as 2008, asking me if I thought digital units were worth the expense… really?!

If you’re being honest, and if you were around in the early 2000’s, the answer is zero, nada, zilch,

If OOH wants a larger share of CMO budgets, it must meet national standards: consistent measurement, brand safety assurances, cross-market coordination, impression guarantees, and programmatic access. That alignment required leadership from large operators and support from organizations like the DPAA and the OAAA. And leaders like the number one ambassador for OOH digital or otherwise, Barry Frey.

National advertisers don’t buy market by market when they’re launching a global auto brand or tech product. They need infrastructure. They need reporting. They need accountability across dozens of DMAs. Don’t take my word for it, ask your national agencies that place millions of dollars of digital OOH space. Need names? Contact me.

That infrastructure doesn’t emerge organically from fragmentation.

It requires scale.

…infrastructure doesn’t emerge organically from fragmentation.

Major operators have cultivated relationships with global CPG brands, tech giants, automotive manufacturers, and entertainment studios for years. When Apple, Amazon, or a major auto brand executes a coast-to-coast campaign, they are not negotiating board by board. They are leveraging scaled networks.

That doesn’t diminish the value of independents. Local operators bring community knowledge, entrepreneurial drive, and long-term land relationships that are essential to the ecosystem.

But growth at the national level — the kind that shifts OOH’s share of media spend and breeds innovation — has historically come from leadership with the wherewithal to think beyond one market.

Innovation requires capital, risk tolerance, and the ability to absorb operational complexity.  Ease of the buy, accurate and complete online inventory, programmatic integration, measurement compliance — these are not side tasks. They are table stakes for participation in large-budget projects.

… table stakes for large-budget participation

Independents often cite capacity constraints. That’s real. But capacity is precisely what scaled operators provide: infrastructure that reduces friction for national buyers.

The future of OOH is not either/or. Independents enrich the landscape. Scaled operators expand it.

But if the goal is meaningful share growth versus digital, streaming, and retail media, history suggests the engine has been — and will likely remain — the industry’s largest players.

When they move, the market moves with them.

And it’s probably no better time to restate what I said earlier in posts here in OOH Today: Clear Channel’s change of ownership could be the absolute best thing for the entire OOH Industry… if they place an OOH person in charge. Film at 6:00 PM.