Improved sales execution has been central to oOh!media’s 17% revenue growth to $336.2 million in the first half of 2025, according to the outgoing CEO of the outdoor media company, Cathy O’Connor.
She told Mediaweek: “Our strategy is to make our media simpler, faster, and smarter, which are all resonating with customers. We had good growth in the majority of our formats, and 80% of that growth came from existing assets.
“I feel we will sustain this now that we have a pipeline of very compelling new assets coming through, and that’s all starting to bear fruit this year.”
The rise in revenue was driven by strong performance in Road (19% to $120.3 million), Street Furniture & Rail (up 19% to $108.0 million), and Fly (up 43% to $31.8 million) formats.
Among the complete assets incoming are the Waverly contract, Sydney Metro, and newly won Transurban motorway contracts in Brisbane and Melbourne.
“There are 90 million new assets that are coming to the business in the next couple of years. So, plenty more new opportunities to take to market.”
O’Connor also noted that there is a significant shift for out-of-home, and as a big player in the sector, oOh!media is benefitting.
“The fact that the audiences, the level of innovation, the new assets, and the digital growth that out-of-home is demonstrating is really going to continue to see that shift away from other media.”
oOh!media’s out-of-home domination
The out-of-home industry is expected to continue taking revenue share from other media sectors.
O’Connor noted that the Out of Home industry is expected to take revenue share from other media sectors to mid to high single digits in the second half of 2025.
“The more digital we become, the more digital media briefs we receive. But equally, I think the relative CPMs for the mass reach you can deliver on out-of-home is becoming increasingly compelling in a fragmented market.
“Those truths continue on as we move forward. I think the television number in SMI for the first half of – 5.9% growth shows that the biggest shift is coming from free-to-air television.”
‘I’m incredibly proud of the industry as much as I am about oOh!media’
As O’Connor looks toward wrapping up her duties as CEO of the outdoor media company, she highlighted the 46% rise in net profit as a point of pride.
“I think the way that we have built the momentum in our sales teams and the discipline that’s in the business now to deliver EBITDA and impact results like we have today is clearly evident.
“That’s been something we’ve worked on over the time I’ve been with the company.”
O’Connor also highlighted oOh!media’s growth in the sector as an important achievement in her time with the company.
“I saw a massive opportunity for out of home to really step into the limelight, and as the largest player made it my passion to champion that.
“I think the rest of the industry has done the same, and as you can see in today’s results that at 16.5% share of SMI from the 10%, we were at the end of COVID, that’s a compelling story. I’m incredibly proud of the industry as much as I am about oOh!media.”
O’Connor will hand over the business to newly appointed CEO James Taylor, who joins from SBS. The leadership transition is expected to take place in late 2025 or early 2026, ensuring continuity and positive momentum for oOh!media.
But before leaving oOh!, she shared that she hopes to have demonstrated that longevity and sustained growth as a leader in the senior ranks of the media Industry.
“I’ve always taken a belief in the channels I’ve been in, be it radio or out of home, that our positivity will be customers’ positivity and that we try to work together industries as much as we do as individual operators.
“I hope some of those things live on in our business and in our industry. I’m sure they will.
“I see many women coming through the ranks with the ambition and the talent to go all the way.”
Top image: Cathy O’Connor