SYDNEY: Out-of-home (OOH) advertising revenues in Australia increased to a record AU$149.4m in the three months to March 2015, the latest industry data has shown.

As measured by the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), a trade body that represents an estimated 90% of OOH practitioners in the country, net revenue grew 22.4% from $122m during the same period last year.

The quarterly increase was more than double the 10% annual growth the OMA recorded over the course of 2014 and it reflected a steady momentum the industry has seen over the past three months.

Viewed year-on-year, advertising revenues increased 18.6% in January, 23.8% in February, rising slightly to 24.2% in March.

Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the OMA, attributed much of the growth to new technologies, especially digital billboards, which she said helps advertisers to shorten campaign lead-times and allows for more targeted messages.

"We attribute our revenue growth to the effectiveness of the medium: nine out of ten people leave home every day, which means that Outdoor reaches more people on a daily basis than any other media," she said.

Every outdoor category monitored by the OMA recorded year-on-year revenue growth. For example, roadside billboards generated $53.9m in the first quarter of 2015 compared with $42.3m in the same period last year.

"Other" roadside formats – defined as street furniture, taxis, bus/tram externals and small format – generated $47.3m (up from $45.3m) while transport, including airports, earned $29m (up from $19.5m).

Retail, the fourth and final category, generated $19.2m over the quarter (up from $15m) while, across all categories, digital accounted for 21% of total net revenue, up from 18.8% recorded last year.

These latest revenue figures come after the OMA announced that it has been updating its Measurement of Visibility and Exposure (MOVE) metric to include geo-targeting and other measures designed to improve the data available for media planners.

Data sourced from Outdoor Media Association; additional content by Warc staff