Geopath (the non-profit which provides measurement services to the US out of home industry) released 2024 financials and the numbers aren’t pretty. Here’s a summary.
- Geopath has lost money for three straight years. The 2024 loss was $1 million, down from a $1.6 million loss in 2023. We suspect the 2024 loss was caused by high spending on a Motionworks data contract but can’t tell because Geopath didn’t break out Motionworks expenses in 2024.
- Accounts receivable declined from $993,000 in 2023 to $63,000 in 2024 but bad debts accounted for one half of the decline in receivables. Bad debts expense was 4% of revenue at Geopath in 2024. A typical Fortune 1000 company has bad debts equal to 1.5% or less of annual revenues. Geopath members aren’t paying their dues, or Geopath has poor financial records, or both.
- Geopath had $2 million in cash but $6 million in liabilities at December 31, 2024. Accounts payable are $3 million and grew by $1 million in 2024. Deferred revenue (an obligation to members to pay for services which must be provided in the future with money which has already been received) was $1.9 million at December 31, 2024 or just equal to cash. Other liabilities (primarily a lease obligation) were $1.1 million at December 31, 2024.
- Billboard Insider expects another Geopath loss in 2025. Geopath does not release financials except as required by law which means 2025 financials won’t be public until November 2026. Geopath increased members dues by 2% in 2025 which will reduce the loss by approx $300,000. There must be substantial expense cuts to get to breakeven. When Billboard Insider asked Geopath Interim CEO Rob Peterson if Geopath will reach breakeven in 2025 he wrote back:”Geopath have made great strides the past 12-14 months to move past the financial challenges it faced and are on the right path moving beyond the large loss it incurred in 2024.”
Billboard Insider’s take: Losses continue at Geopath and liabilities are well in excess of assets. We don’t see how Geopath can avoid a future bankruptcy or liquidation. Billboard Insider hears that the OAAA and Geopath have issued five RFP’s for MRC-accredited out of home measurement services. Once the RFP winners are chosen we see little need for an independent Geopath and recommend that out of home measurement functions be provided by the third parties, supervised by the OAAA. The out of home associations in Canada, Australia and South Africa take this approach. Measurement is supervised and paid for by the out of home association.
What do you think needs to happen at Geopath? Email davewestburg@billboardinsider.com or use the comment box below and we’ll run a followup story.
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A significant challenge for them is that the salaries are 25% of their revenues.
GEOPATH risks continuing to lose independent billboard operator memberships because its cost structure has become increasingly disconnected from the realities independents face. For many smaller operators, membership rates have risen dramatically since Covid, often by 100% or more, and without a corresponding increase in tangible value. Independents operate on tighter margins than the “big 3”, and when fees rise this sharply, they become harder to justify as a necessary business expense rather than an optional one.
In addition, much of GEOPATH’s value proposition as audience measurement and standardized metric primarily benefits large operators, national buyers, and agencies. Independents frequently rely on local relationships, direct sales, and market knowledge rather than national buying platforms. When the perceived benefits skew toward larger players, independents naturally question why they are paying the same or higher rates for tools they use less.
As more independents discontinue their memberships, a ripple effect follows. Reduced independent participation weakens GEOPATH’s overall representation of the out-of-home industry, making its data less comprehensive and less reflective of local and rural markets. This, in turn, further reduces the incentive for remaining independents to stay, creating a cycle of attrition.
Unless GEOPATH meaningfully restructures its pricing, offers tiered or scaled memberships, or delivers clearer, direct value to independent operators, it will likely continue to see independents exit. Over time, this risks positioning GEOPATH as an organization that primarily serves large corporate interests, rather than the full and diverse out-of-home industry it was originally meant to represent.