JCDecaux With Interstate Outdoor Advertising Signs US's First Large-Scale Digital Billboard Network Contract With the City of Chicago

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announced today that its newly formed joint venture with Interstate Outdoor Advertising and its sister company, Foster Interstate, has signed a 20-year contract with the City of Chicago to operate 34 large (up to 1200 square feet) digital billboards with 60 LED-display panels along City expressways.

The Chicago City Digital Network is the US's first public-private partnership to create a large-scale digital billboard network on public land. It will serve as a communications broadcast system for emergencies, weather and traffic alerts, safety issues and cultural events while at the same time generating revenue for the City and providing advertisers the best locations along expressways to display messages on a real-time basis.

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago said: "While the City continues to crack down on illegal billboards we are creating a billboard network with cutting edge digital technology that will allow us to better communicate with residents and travellers about important public safety announcements."

Jean-Francois Decaux, co-CEO of JCDecaux said: "Chicago is becoming the Silicon Valley of digital outdoor media. Ten years after winning the street furniture contract delivering prime audiences in downtown Chicago, JCDecaux, in partnership with Interstate affiliates, will develop and operate the best digital billboard locations along Chicago's busiest expressways, offering a one-stop solution for national and local advertisers in the third largest US market.  Billboard advertising represents more than 60% of the US outdoor advertising market and digital billboards is the fastest growing segment. The Chicago City Digital Network will pave the way for JCDecaux to build more digital billboards on an organic basis in other US cities."

About JCDecaux 
JCDecaux is the largest outdoor advertising company in the world and the market leader in Europe and Asia-Pacific.  JCDecaux is listed on Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability indexes.  JCDecaux, which first invented the concept of street furniture in 1964, is currently the only world-class player exclusively focused on outdoor advertising, pursuing a comprehensive range of activities in the areas of street furniture, transport advertising and billboard.  Employing a total of 10,300 people, the Group has operations in 55 countries around the world (1,013,500 advertising panels), and is present in 3,700 cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants.

Key figures for JCDecaux

• 2011 revenue: €2,463.0m; Revenue for the first nine months of 2012: €1,876.2m
• JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 index
• No.1 worldwide in street furniture (426,200 advertising panels)
• No.1 worldwide in transport advertising with 175 airports and 280 contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (367,800 advertising panels)
• No.1 in Europe for billboards (208,500 advertising panels)
• No.1 in outdoor advertising in the Asia-Pacific region (202,200 advertising panels)
• No.1 worldwide for self-service bicycle hire
• 1,013,500 advertising panels in more than 55 countries
• Present in 3,700 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants
• 10,300 employees

SOURCE JCDecaux