
In a recent episode of The Uncensored CMO podcast, marketing effectiveness guru Les Binet spilled the tea on shifting media consumption habits. “Outdoor has now overtaken TV as the medium that has the broadest reach and the highest number of exposures,” Binet stated, emphasising that “Outdoor is the only way you can reach everyone.”
The advertising industry is undergoing a significant shift. Television, once the dominant medium for reaching a mass audience, is being challenged by the lasting power of Out of Home (OOH). This change is driven by evolving consumer habits and the constant presence of outdoor ads in public spaces, especially as audiences disperse across various platforms and channels.
The commercial media landscape is clearly fragmenting. While Commercial TV still delivers substantial reach and time spent, it no longer achieves the 90+% weekly reach for all adults that OOH has consistently delivered since 2019. Interestingly, Commercial Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) now surpasses Cinema in weekly reach, and Other Online Video (OOV) captures about half of the GB adult audience.
Although consumer demand for video remains strong, this fragmentation makes effective AV planning crucial to achieving scale. Reaching a broad audience today requires a more strategic approach than in the past.
It’s important to remember that reach and time spent don’t tell the whole story. While the chart provides a standardised comparison of media, it doesn’t reflect the varying impact of impressions across different channels. For example, recent research highlights the power and effectiveness of Cinema advertising, despite its lower reach compared to other media.
To provide a more complete picture of these trends, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) analysed individual “buyable media types” within each channel (e.g., separating Print from Online within News brands). This granular view gives agency planners deeper insights into the evolving dynamics of each element of the commercial media landscape.
The explosion of digital inventory in out-of-home advertising has delivered a new era of exciting possibilities. We are now able to target audiences with precision – by location, time of day, and even specific demographics – all with reduced lead time. While the overall share of OOH since pre-pandemic might have dipped slightly, its capabilities have skyrocketed.
This evolution has made OOH planning more complex, but also far more rewarding. The ability to strategically leverage these new tools allows us to deliver exceptional results for clients like never before.
Simon Miller – Focal Point Advertising
22nd January 2025

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