Australia’s Out of Home (OOH) industry recorded a decrease of 2.59 percent in net media revenue year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, posting $207.2 million, a dip from $212.7* million for Q1 2019.
“COVID-19 had a deep effect on the industry’s revenue in March 2020,” said Charmaine Moldrich, OMA CEO. “We are pleased that we weathered the storm to some extent in the first quarter. We know that in the short term we will be affected by budgets being put on hold. We also know that our channel is still essential for mass communication: whether it be for vital government messages, education, or the many brands that want to stay present and relevant during this time.”
Total digital revenue was 56.8% of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 54.6%* for the same period last year.
“While travel has changed, people are still out and about, including those people working on the frontlines to fight this pandemic, people providing services, people exercising and shopping not to mention people who should not be outdoors!” Moldrich said. “Out of Home messaging is essential to get health and wellbeing messages to people and to remind people to distance, isolate and stay at home. Our members are dedicated to finding solutions for brands in these unprecedented times.”
*Previously reported revenue figures have been adjusted to reflect changes in the OMA membership.
[In April 2019, the OMA reported a net media revenue of $214.9 million for Q1 2019].
Meanwhile, JCDecaux, "the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide", has withdrawn its 2019 dividend proposal in order to strengthen its balance sheet and financial flexibility in response to “the unprecedented global disruption due to the Covid-19 outbreak.”
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| JCDecaux advertising at The Clock in Melbourne |
Co-CEO Jean-François Decaux, said: “The world has changed dramatically since March 5th when we announced our 2019 full-year results with now more than 2.6 billion people, a third of the world population, in confinement due to the Covid-19. As a consequence, we are now facing a global recession which is likely to be worse than the downturn during the 2008 financial crisis with the advertising market being hit badly.
“While the health and safety of our employees remain our top priority, we are implementing additional measures to mitigate the negative impact of this crisis including but not limited to cutting discretionary spend and capex, introducing temporary unemployment measures, reducing employee hours and introducing voluntary salary reduction.
“It is impossible to predict the timing of the rebound but we are taking all necessary steps to be ready and strong to take advantage of market opportunities that may arise because we continue to strongly believe that OOH / DOOH will remain a very valuable media solution for international, national and local advertisers delivering high quality audiences. Our well diversified geographic portfolio will be beneficiary because some countries will rebound earlier than others.”
