Following a number of complaints, the OFT has launched a market
study into the outdoor advertising sector. The study will
focus on the structure of the sector to establish whether there are
any distortions of competition or barriers to entry.
The outdoor advertising industry, which was worth around
£780m in 2009, is considered by the OFT to have a complex,
multi-levelled structure. It is also considered to be 'highly
concentrated' at certain levels (namely at the specialist buyer
and outdoor media owner levels). There are at least five
levels to the market - including the advertisers, the advertising
agencies, specialist outdoor media buyers, outdoor media owners
(who contract with site owners to provide advertising space) and
site owners (which can include local
authorities).
