OOH Takeaway from the 53rd Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference
At the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media, and Communications Conference last week, Clear Channel CEO Scott Wells made a fair point:
“Programmatic is a helpful and accretive thing… but it does have more volatility.”
He’s not wrong. Programmatic campaigns don’t always deliver steady demand. Pricing can fluctuate. Some placements don’t fill. Advertisers sometimes move back to direct deals.
But that’s not a reason to slow down.
If anything, it’s a reason to keep building. Because the long-term value of programmatic — for both media owners and buyers — is too strong to ignore.
? Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) ad spend in the U.S. is projected to surpass $1 billion in 2025.
As a buyer, we understand the challenges media owners face — from demand inconsistency to reporting complexity. But it’s in our mutual interest to make programmatic work. When it works well, it creates more efficiency, better measurement, and stronger campaign performance for everyone.
Here’s what we see as the biggest opportunities moving forward:
1. Programmatic Makes Campaign Execution More Efficient
Manual workflows take time. Programmatic cuts that down.
For buyers and sellers, this means:
- Less time managing insertion orders
- Faster campaign activation
- Fewer manual errors
- Cleaner billing and reconciliation
That’s time and cost saved on every deal.
2. It Makes It Easier for Buyers to Spend
When media owners enable programmatic, buyers can:
- Seamlessly run a single campaign across multiple media owners
- Utilize standard creative specs and centralize trafficking
- Manage pacing and targeting more easily
- Get consistent reporting back
This leads to bigger campaigns and repeat business. The easier it is to buy, the more likely buyers are to scale spend.
3. It Makes Performance Easier to Measure
As more OOH campaigns run through programmatic pipes, measurement improves. Buyers can:
- Tie impressions to digital signals like search or site traffic
- Analyze brand lift
- Compare performance across formats and locations
This helps justify spend — and helps media owners prove the value of their inventory.
4. Volatility Gets Better with More Communication
Volatility in programmatic DOOH often stems from limited visibility, not lack of demand. As buyers, what we need most is simple: access to real-time availability.
That data already exists, but it’s often shared manually or inconsistently across media owners. Making it easier to see what’s available — and when — would:
- Improve campaign planning and pacing
- Reduce under-delivery and last-minute shifts
- Build more confidence in the channel overall
This doesn’t require a full tech overhaul — just clearer, more consistent communication. Even incremental improvements can make programmatic more predictable and scalable.
The Ask: Keep Leaning In
Programmatic OOH isn’t perfect. But it’s improving — fast. And media owners have more to gain by participating than by waiting it out.
The workflows are getting better. The measurement is getting smarter. The campaigns are getting easier to run.
What’s needed now is more coordination between media owners and buyers — to smooth out the edges and unlock more consistent demand.
We’re ready to work together on that.