The San Antonio Express News says that Clear Channel Outdoor and the city of San Antonio have reached an agreement under which Clear Channel will take down nearly 300 static billboard faces is exchange for approval to convert up to a dozen static billboards to digital.  The agreement requires Clear Channel to remove four square feet of static signage for every one square foot of new digital display that will be permitted.  Insider suspects that most of the faces which are taken down will be posters.

A San Antonio Express reporter asked Insider what he thought of the 4:1 takedown plan and Insider said this:  “Many communities would like to see that ratio at six-to-one or eight-to-one, but this is what the forward-looking cities are doing,” Westburg said. “Every once in a while a stupid city will ban digital altogether and so none of their existing billboards will be coming down. San Antonio did a good deal.”

The San Antonio city council expects to vote on the plan in April.

Insider’s take:  Win-win-win-win.  San Antonio gets fewer billboards.  Businesses get more space to tell their story.  Public safety agencies get a flexible channel for public messages.  Clear Channel Outdoor gets a chance to grow revenue with more ad space.  Indianapolis, are you listening?

[wpforms id=”9787″]

Paid Advertisement