TV Executives Take Over Clear Channel After $6.2 Billion Deal

"We are investing in a technology roadmap so the business works better — both internally and externally," Halley said. According to him, the key areas are programmatic (automated ad buying) and data, which will bring the digital inventory closer to formats familiar to advertisers.

Why Out-of-Home Advertising?

Halley notes that OOH has already proven itself as a component of the media mix: unlike fragmented TV audiences, it delivers guaranteed impressions. "Out-of-home advertising in its current state influences consumer behavior. What's changing is our ability to prove it, optimize it, and tie it to results," he said.

At the same time, in Halley's assessment, OOH is difficult to buy and "effectively unmeasured." Developing currencies, measurement, standardization, and digitization, he said, can transform the channel into a modern, data-driven platform. "Better audience data, more sophisticated planning tools, more digital inventory, programmatic capabilities — all of this allows advertisers to use out-of-home advertising with greater precision and flexibility," the executive explained.

Halley previously served as President of Paramount Advertising and Chairman of OpenAP, an activation platform for the convergent video market that develops new advertising currencies. His key goal at Clear Channel is to link impressions to results. "We are building a measurement framework to understand not only how many people saw the ad, but also how that impression influences store visits and customer acquisition — and ultimately ROI. That means integrating OOH into the same media mix models advertisers use to evaluate other channels," he noted.

What Are the Plans for the Market?

According to Halley, there is no player with national dominance in the OOH market. The new team plans to create a unified platform where advertisers can buy combinations of assets targeted at specific audiences. "This won't happen tomorrow. It will require investment. But we have the opportunity to embed OOH into an omnichannel media strategy, and we have a clear idea of what's needed, given our history in television," he concluded.

The new team's bet is to turn one of the world's largest physical media inventories into a measurable and easily purchasable digital channel.