Ad Policies & Regulations

Media owners expect Hyderabad Metro pillar units to yield better returns in future

Expansion of metro network will likely attract a greater number of brands to advertise on this media; local civic body’s drive against unauthorised media will also help this media’s cause

Published

February 27, 2018

Bhawana Anand

Hyderabad Metro Rail that became operational in December 2017 is seeing a gradual increase in ridership which is having a beneficial impact on OOH advertising on the network, though the pace of advertising growth is seemingly slow. As regards the pillar media on the network, the audience is necessarily larger as they are consumed by the moving traffic on the roads. There are some 2,4000 5ft x 10ft media units placed on the Metro pillars on the Miyapur-Ameerpet-Nagole stretch which have been allotted to 3 media owning companies on a one-year contract basis.

Atin Gupta, Founder, Atin Promotions and Advertising, which owns a set of Metro pillar media units, said “the initial advertising response is okay as the city has large formats available and other formats like BQS, but they aren’t made of great quality like other cities so amidst all this we are trying to gain some benefit from this new format in the market”.

A mix of local retail brands as well as big ticket brands such as Samsung are largely taking up the Metro pillar media property, accounting for 60%-75% occupancy. For sales to pick up, Atin feels that the entire Metro network has to be completed so that the brands can achieve wide coverage across the city.

OOH major Prakash Arts holds rights on a significant number of the Metro media units. H. V. Suderanath, COO, Prakash Arts said, “The outside pillar boxes are doing fine, however the revenues aren’t coming as per the projection made for this huge project. We are just the concessionaires so end up getting 8%-9% of revenue whereas the biggest chunk of revenue goes to L&T”.

He mentioned that the local authority is running a drive to wipe out unauthorised media in the city which is expected to help the business of Metro media units. Also, the major revenues will be earned on inside Metro station media formats which are yet to be allotted by the metro authority.

Another aspect he claims to be responsible is the ridership which is merely 70,000-75,000 per day covering 24 stations. Once all three lines come into full swing, the ridership which is directly proportionate to the demand will improve.