Exterion Media wins TfL's £1bn Tube contract
Transport for London (TfL) has selected Exterion Media, the incumbent agency, as its media partner for its £1bn rail advertising account. It is an eight year deal, and is thought to be the most valuable out-of-home ad contract in Europe. JCDecaux, who already have TfL's bus shelter contract, lost out in the bid. Exterion will oversea TfL's advertising space and will develop new advertising technology across its transport network.

TfL has selected Exterion Media as its media partner for its £1bn rail advertising account.

The appointment comes as TfL for the first time combines advertising in a single contract across London Underground, London Overground, Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway, Victoria Coach Station and once it is operational, Crossrail.

The contract will see Exterion Media oversee TfL's advertising space and develop new advertising technology across its transport network, with advertising spaces being sold on trains and at over 400 stations across TfL’s network, which supports over 30 million journeys a day.

Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: "We believe this partnership can be a catalyst for transforming our stations and the wider industry. The new contract will move away from the traditional concessionary approach to working together to deliver innovation and value on the best station network in the greatest city in the world.”

TfL wants to elevate the value of its inventory, which accounts for 20 per cent of the UK’s out of home advertising estate. Some of the organisation’s previous commercial attempts had not necessarily capitalised on the opportunities on offer, director of commercial development Graeme Craig told The Drum last year.

“We’re keen to move to a different approach now that’s more of a partnership”, he said at the time. "It means turning TfL assets into sustainable sources of income rather than pushing hard on securing upfront capital."

The move is part of TfL's commercial approach to maximise its assets to generate £3.4bn in non-fare revenue. These revenues will be reinvested back into the transport network, delivering improved services for customers and users.

TfL aims to sign the contract in April 2016 with services under the new contract beginning on 1 October 2016.