It’s the first time that both the Rail (including London Underground) and Bus Shelter advertising concessions have been tendered at the same time.
The tender comprises two lots and two separate contracts, although it’s possible that both lots could be won by the same bidder.
The current incumbents are Global (rail and underground) and JC Decaux (bus shelters).
Global recently introduced a controversial production gateway whereby it controls all of the print production for the sites it manages.
Lot one is worth £1.7bn and involves the right to sell and display advertising on all Rail stations and rolling stock on the London Underground, Elizabeth Line, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, Trams, and Victoria Coach Station.
“This consists of traditional assets of varying formats from four sheets to 96 sheets, as well as a range of digital assets including digital six sheets, digital 12 sheets, escalator panels, escalator ribbons, large scale landmarks/video walls, and digital runways (integrated into platform edge doors),” TFL explained.
Lot two is worth £800m and involves the right to sell and display advertising on TfL's bus shelter estate throughout the Greater London area.
This consists of more than 4,700 bus shelters carrying 9,500 traditional paper advertising panels and 612 digital panels.
“The concessionaire will be responsible for posting adverts on the traditional poster panels, as well as the scheduling of adverts across the digital network. The maintenance and cleaning of the bus shelters is conducted by third parties, but the concessionaire will be responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the traditional panels and the installation, maintenance, and cleaning of the digital advertising panels on the bus shelters,” TFL stated.
TfL also issued a market sounding questionnaire prior to the tender process to engage with potential partners, with the new contracts set to begin in April 2025.
Chris Reader, head of commercial media at TFL commented: “This is an exciting opportunity for media partners as we look to combine commercial excellence with our prestigious advertising estate. We want to work with the industry in a way that allows us to attain the best partnerships and therefore best value for our customers, while generating vital income to be reinvested into the transport network.”
“With ridership numbers on our buses, Tubes, and trains rising to close to pre-pandemic numbers, now is optimum time for media partners and brands to collaborate with us. We are seeking partnerships that can adapt to changing times, which will see not only the market and technology evolve, but also the evolution of TfL's social and environmental responsibilities as we strive to fulfil our ambition to become a strong green heartbeat of London.”
TFL gained £130m in Commercial Media income in the year to 31 March, which included advertising, commercial partnerships, filming and photography, and brand licensing.
