SYDNEY: The Australian Out-of-Home (OOH) industry reported a seventh consecutive year of revenue growth in 2016 and its top executive is bullish about the prospects for the year ahead.

Figures from the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) indicated a 15.8% increase on net media revenue year-on-year, taking the industry's income to a record high of A$789.5m, up from A$682.1m in 2015.

And within that total, Digital OOH has been taking a growing share, rising from 36.0% in the first quarter to 40.2% in the final one.

Roadside billboards constituted the single biggest OOH category, generating A$296.4m of revenue during the year, with other roadside (including street furniture and bus/tram externals) adding A$230.4m.

Transport outdoor sites, including airports, brought in A$136.3m, while retail outdoor added a further A$126.4m.

Charmaine Moldrich, chief executive of the OMA, noted that OOH and Online were the only media channels that had seen any growth in the first half of the year, while OOH had also overtaken regional television advertising.

"It's undeniable that OOH is on the rise," she declared. "And as our cities become more populated – 94% of Australians are expected to be living in cities by 2050 – OOH offers the biggest audience in town."

The OMA's MOVE audience measurement system shows that OOH audiences have increased 20.3% over the last six years, over-indexing population growth of 13.0%.

"We know OOH is becoming more than the channel with the biggest reach, it is increasingly a targeted and accountable channel," Moldrich said.

And she added that this trend would only grow as customer data from emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) was integrated with MOVE .

"This will give media planners the ability to segment audiences like never before by delivering more relevant and targeted messages," she said. "This is going to be a very powerful tool in the OOH arsenal, if not the game changer, in the years ahead."

Data sourced from OMA: additional content by Warc staff