News – Week in Focus
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising revenue grew 15% year-on-year in Q1 2026 totalling £341.2m, reports Outsmart, the UK trade body for the OOH advertising industry.
The figures, collated by PwC, reveal that digital out-of-home (DOOH) revenue grew by 17.6% and classic OOH grew by 10.1%, indicating that digital is driving growth within the channel.
DOOH’s share of revenue in Q1 was 67%. This is consistent with its annual share in both 2024 and 2025, also at 67%.
Justin Cochrane, chair of Outsmart, said: “Despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges, this is an incredibly strong result, demonstrating the confidence brands have in OOH.”
The figures follow a record 2025 for the sector, where OOH adspend in the UK exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the second year running to reach £1.4bn, as found in AA/Warc’s latest Expenditure Report.
It forecasted OOH adspend would grow 3.1% year-on-year in 2026, with DOOH projected to grow even faster at 4.5%.
In Q1, DOOH growth was seen across roadside, transport, and retail and leisure environments, with roadside leading the way with a total of £130m.
Responding to the figures, Dallas Wiles, co-CEO of JCDecaux UK, noted that the continued expansion of DOOH and programmatic trading is “transforming what the channel can deliver.”
He said: “Greater flexibility, smarter targeting, dynamic creative and real-time optimisation are making OOH more accountable, more responsive and more deeply embedded within omnichannel planning than ever before.”
Wiles said he had seen growth across categories, but particularly from finance and entertainment.
The7star’s planning director and head of OOH, Tommy Gleadell, has also seen growth within the food category, with some brands finding OOH a more attractive channel due to the advertising regulations around Less Healthy Food (LHF) putting restrictions on TV and digital.
Due to OOH voluntarily restricting advertising for products high in sugar, fat or salt (HFSS) for almost a decade, it was exempt from the legislation.
Digital is not the only driver of growth, Wiles also argued that OOH also plays a role in the wider media ecosystem.
He said: “OOH amplifies digital – driving search, social engagement, online traffic and broader brand conversation.”
Programmatic DOOH: From media outlier to omnichannel multiplier
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