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Nithya Subramanian

New Delhi , Oct. 3

THE out-of-home (OOH) advertising business seems to be next on Rupert Murdoch-promoted Star India's radar.

According to advertising industry sources, the media company is examining the market potential of the business and has had some preliminary discussions with a few market players. However, details were not available.

When contacted, Mr Peter Mukerjea, Chief Executive Officer, Star India said, "It is too early to say anything on this. Presently, it is speculative."

Mr Murdoch has been aggressive about the outdoor advertising business, especially in Russia. News Outdoor Russia, a division of News Corporation, has been raising money to finance several takeovers in the crowded western European billboard market dominated by Clear Channel, Viacom and JC Decaux.

According to analysts, NewsCorp's expanding interest in outdoor advertising is seen as an initiative to find growth in international markets as the Western operations have matured.

Indian OOH advertising is also on the growth path. The spends on this medium grew by 7.5 per cent in 2004 to close at Rs 850 crore in 2004 and it could well cross the Rs 1,000-crore mark this year. "The financial sector has been booming and the category has been a big spender," said an advertising industry executive.

Currently, advertising agencies with OOH operations in India include Mudra's Primesite, Lintas (Aaren Initiative), O&M (Ogilvy Activation) and Madison Outdoor (MOMS).

The Star group has been looking at various business opportunities in India. It picked up 26 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms, besides entering into a joint venture with the Tata Group for direct-to-home (DTH) business. In the Asian region, India has been the driver.

According to media research firm Media Partners Asia, Star TV's operating profits for the year ended June 2005 stood at $128 million, a growth of 113 per cent. The turnover also grew by 24 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004-05 reaching $444 million, boosted by the advertising growth of the Star Plus and Star Gold channels along with contributions from new channels in India.

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