Outfront Media
Outfront Media, Inc. is one of the largest outdoor media companies. It operates in markets including the United States and Canada.[3] The Americas division is led by CEO Jeremy Male.[4] Outfront Media operates both billboards and transit displays.
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Formerly | CBS Outdoor Viacom Outdoor Infinity Outdoor Outdoor Systems Quest Outdoor Whiteco GannettOutdoor 3M National |
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Type | Public (real estate investment trust) |
NYSE: OUT Russell 1000 Component | |
Industry | Outdoor Advertising |
Founded | 1938 |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Americas |
Key people | Jeremy J. Male (CEO) Matthew Siegel (CFO) |
Products | Billboards, Transit Advertising |
Revenue | ![]() |
Number of employees | 2,370 (2014)[2] |
Website | www |
![](../I/Outfront_Media_in_Times_Square_NYC.jpg.webp)
History
![](../I/Outfront_billboards_Wyandotte_MI.jpg.webp)
TDI (Transportation Displays Incorporated) was the first predecessor company for transit advertising, publishing advertising for passenger railroad timetables and displays in railroad terminals. TDI was first incorporated in 1938. TDI was sold to IT&T in the early 1970s and then to the Winston Network in the early 1980s, it was later renamed TDI in 1989 led by Bill Apfelbaum. In 1996 the company was sold to Infinity Broadcasting. The transit business and the billboard business merged in 2001 under the name Viacom Outdoor.
The billboard division was originally two separate companies: 3M National, the outdoor advertising subsidiary of 3M; and Gannett Outdoor, owned by the Gannett Company. In August 1996, Gannett exited the billboard business by spinning off Gannett Outdoor into a new company, Outdoor Systems. This new company would later acquire 3M National in May 1997, but before that sale was finalized, the United States Justice Department ruled that Outdoor Systems had to sell nearly all of its 3M billboards in ten U.S. cities (all 3M billboards in Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California; New Orleans; Louisville, Kentucky; Denver; Detroit; Kansas City, Missouri and Grand Rapids, Michigan; plus almost all 3M billboards in Atlanta and half of 3M's billboards in Houston) where both Outdoor Systems and 3M National already had billboards to Lamar Advertising to avoid a monopoly in these cities.[5]
On December 7, 1999 Outdoor Systems (OSI) was bought by Infinity and became Infinity Outdoor. Infinity was absorbed into Viacom in 2001, and became Viacom Outdoor. When Viacom split from CBS Corporation in December 2005, it became CBS Outdoor. CBS owned CBS Outdoor as a division of CBS until March 2014, at which point it was spun off into an independent company. CBS Corporation continued to own 83% of Outfront Media, although this number is expected to decline over time as Outfront Media converts into a real estate investment trust and CBS Corporation divests itself of the outdoor unit.[6] CBS Outdoor shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 28, 2014.
In July 2014, it was announced that CBS Outdoor would acquire the billboard business of Van Wagner Communications for $690 million.[8]
As of July 17, 2014 CBS Outdoor became a fully independent corporation, operating as a real estate investment trust. The company announced it would rename itself as to Outfront Media, Inc., effective November 20, 2014. The company's ticker symbol on the NYSE changed from CBSO to OUT. A rebranding program converted billboards, signage and displays from CBS Outdoor to Outfront logos.
In October 2015, Outfront Media refused to post New York City Subway ads involving Thinx underwear for women, on the basis that the word period was used in the advertisement copy and was accompanied by images of grapefruits.[9][10]
Since then, Outfront Media has expanded its initiatives, such as a campaign with Dogology Inc., a virtual dog training startup, and the installation of digital advertising screens in the New York City Subway.[11] These campaigns have been highly successful.[12] Further, executives were devising new strategies with the growth of 5G technology.[13]
In September 2018 ‘Today, I’m Brave,’ the Los Angeles-based non-profit born out of creative agency David&Goliath, put together a fundraising initiative with the purpose of aiding Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Maria. As part of this effort, Outfront donated a billboard that went up in the heart of Hollywood on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma to commemorate and raise funds for hurricane victims.[14] In October 2018, an 18-member coalition of Chicago Southland churches, synagogues and mosques spread the message "One God, Three Faiths" using Outfront billboards.[15] According to a CNBC interview Outfront Media CEO Jeremy Male, out-of-home media is a popular medium among top tech and consumer companies, and is a growing advertising medium.[16]
Worldwide
United States
Outfront Media holds advertising contracts including:
- MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) bus and subway, Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road (these were previously under Titan Outdoor from 2007-2010), New York City
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Washington, DC
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), Los Angeles
- Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Atlanta
- Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority of greater Phoenix, Arizona, transit shelters and light rail (Valley Metro)
- Detroit Department of Transportation, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation and Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority in Metro Detroit
- Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC), Prince William County, Virginia
- Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Santa Clara County, California, Silicon Valley
Canada
Outfront Media Canada (Outfront Média in Quebec) is an outdoor representative in Canada. Major products/contracts include:
- Mississauga Transit advertising on buses
- Transit shelter contracts in the municipalities of: Halifax, Cape Breton, Saint John, Quebec City, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Montreal, Oakville, Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Pickering, Newmarket, Hamilton, London, Windsor, Leamington, Sarnia, Barrie, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver
- In addition Outfront Media Canada represents products including billboards, murals and large format products like Superboards in the top markets across the country.
Outfront Media products are audited and measured by COMB (the Canadian Out-of-Home Measurement Bureau).
Past names
References
- Inc., OUTFRONT Media (2019-02-26). "OUTFRONT Media Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Results". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- Inc., OUTFRONT Media. "OUTFRONT Media and JCDecaux Sign a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Latin America Business of OUTFRONT Media". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
- "Media Center | Viacom.com". Cbscorporation.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2014-03-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "CBS Outdoor Not Ready to Have Name on the Big Board | The Motley Fool". Fool.com. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- Liana Baker (21 July 2014). "CBS Outdoor buys Van Wagner billboard unit for $690 million". Reuters.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-10-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Rivoli, Dan (2015-10-21). "Underwear ads for women on their period are too racy for the subway: MTA". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- "When AR and Out-of-Home Campaigns Put a Brand on the Map". DMNews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
- "Out-of-Home Advertising Fuels Growth for Outfront Media". Cheddar. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
- Liffreing, Ilyse (2018-06-29). "5G is coming and will change digital advertising in more ways than you think". Digiday. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
- September 29, Oliver McAteer; 2018. "Today, I'm Brave raises $500K for Puerto Rican hurricane victims". www.campaignlive.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- Brashinger, Ginger. "South suburban interfaith group advertising message of unity on highway billboard". Daily Southtown. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
- "Outfront Media CEO Jeremy Male on using data to target billboard ads". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.