OPENING REMARKS
François de Gaspé Beaubien,
Chairman of the Board, DPAA
Chairman and Chief Coaching Officer of Zoom Media / GymTV;
Co-founder/executive chairman of Hivestack.
THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the 2026 DPAA Global Summit!
There’s a famous scene in the movie Jerry Maguire where Cuba Gooding Jr. shouts to Tom Cruise: “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”
Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you needed any more evidence that Digital Out of Home has never been hotter, I suggest you do exactly that.
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
I recently asked my friend Mark Boidman, Partner and Head of Media & Entertainment at Solomon Partners, for his perspective on our industry.
His response was unequivocal:
“We have never been busier which is a good sign for how strong the sector is today because AI is killing every other media channel. The only two places I would ever invest in media today would be sports and media of any kind in the physical world! Where trusted brands will choose OOH and DOOH as the only place to break through.”
Now, Mark certainly doesn’t mince words! And considering that Solomon Partners has been at the center of some of the biggest transactions in our industry, he’s in a pretty good position to know.
And consider the opportunity ahead: a Solomon Partners analysis suggests that shifting just ONE PERCENT of digital advertising spending into Out of Home could generate approximately $4.3 BILLION in additional spending for our industry. That is an illustrative scenario, not a forecast. But ONE PERCENT—think about that opportunity! Just look at what’s happened:
- Hivestack, which I had the pleasure of co-founding with the brilliant Andreas Soupliotis, was acquired by Perion in December 2023 for $100 million in cash at closing, plus up to $25 million in additional payments.
- Vistar Media was acquired by T-Mobile in February 2025 for a reported $621 million.
- GSTV was acquired by MidOcean Partners in April 2025, in a transaction widely estimated at approximately half a billion dollars.
- Place Exchange was acquired by Broadsign in November 2025, creating an even more formidable global programmatic platform.
- And just last month, Captivate was acquired by National CineMedia in a transaction valued at $275 million.
And speaking of Captivate, I want to take a moment to recognize Mark Kidd, who is stepping down from the DPAA Board following this transaction. Mark, thank you for your years of leadership, your commitment, and your contributions to our industry. We are all extremely grateful.
Ladies and gentlemen, these aren’t just transactions.
These are votes of confidence.
Some of the most sophisticated investors and strategic buyers in the world are placing major bets on the future of our industry.
The smart money isn’t running away from the physical world. It’s running toward it!
And advertisers are doing exactly the same.
U.S. Out of Home advertising revenue reached a record $9.5 billion in 2025.
DOOH grew 11% last year.
And that momentum accelerated in 2026, with DOOH growing 13% in the first quarter and an extraordinary 19% in the second.
Most of the CEOs I speak with in our industry are indeed reporting double-digit growth.
The money is moving. The momentum is building. And our industry’s moment is NOW.
But the really interesting question is:
WHY?
Why is our industry attracting so much capital, so much attention, and so much growth?
I believe the answer lies in one of the great paradoxes of our time.
THE MORE ARTIFICIAL OUR WORLD BECOMES, THE MORE VALUABLE THE REAL WORLD BECOMES.
Think about it.
We live in a world increasingly dominated by AI-generated content, fragmented audiences, endless scrolling, and digital noise. AI can create images. It can create videos. It can create entire personalities that don’t exist. But it cannot replace the experience of actually being somewhere. Of sharing a moment. Of being part of a community. Of connecting with another human being. The physical world cannot be skipped, blocked, or scrolled past.
And that brings me to the theme of this year’s Summit: REAL CONNECTIONS.
I cannot imagine a more timely theme for our industry. Because while the digital world becomes increasingly artificial, the value of authentic human connection is growing. And our industry sits at the very intersection of technology and the real world.
We offer advertisers something increasingly precious: The ability to connect with real people, in real places, in real moments. And we’re seeing this play out across our industry.
Chip Harding, who leads media at Simon malls, put it perfectly:
“Brands are leaning into physical media as a complement to digital. As more digital traffic becomes automated—with well over half of internet traffic now bots—advertisers are placing a higher value on environments where the audience is verifiably human.”
Think about those two words: VERIFIABLY HUMAN.
In an increasingly artificial world, that may be one of the greatest advantages our medium has.
And Chip makes another important point: measurement wins the budget. Advertisers will increasingly move dollars toward media that can prove real outcomes—real people, real visits, real dwell time, and real spending. That’s exactly where our industry is headed. We can connect with real people in the physical world—with the targeting, flexibility, creativity, and increasingly sophisticated measurement capabilities of digital media. That’s a powerful combination. And it’s getting stronger.
THREE FORCES ARE ACCELERATING OUR INDUSTRY
First, PROGRAMMATIC. I spoke with Ari Buchalter, Chief Strategy Officer at Broadsign, who believes our industry is approaching a major inflection point. Today, programmatic represents approximately 10% of DOOH spending by his estimate. And as Ari points out, other digital channels experienced explosive growth in programmatic adoption once they reached similar levels of maturity. The drivers are increasingly in place: omnichannel DSP adoption, better targeting, better measurement, and growing demand for real-world media.
JC Conti, CEO of VIOOH, shares that optimism. JC anticipates programmatic DOOH growth of 10–15% in the United States and 20–25% in the UK in 2027. He also highlights an important shift: private marketplace deals now represent 76% of global programmatic DOOH spending on VIOOH’s platform, compared with 64% two years ago.
What does that tell us? Advertisers want greater precision, more control, and access to quality audiences in premium environments. And increasingly, they’re finding that in DOOH.
Second, MEASUREMENT. Ari also points to a major transformation in how our industry measures exposure and outcomes. The convergence of industry collaboration, new technologies, and changing privacy regulations will reshape how our medium is measured, valued, and transacted. This matters enormously. Because the easier we make DOOH to measure and compare with other channels, the easier we make it for advertisers to invest more heavily in our medium.
And third, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. JC predicts that AI agents will increasingly help agencies incorporate DOOH into their programmatic campaigns. Ari sees agentic tools transforming planning and execution, provided we build the right standards and data infrastructure. I agree. AI will make our industry smarter, faster, more efficient, and easier to buy.
But here’s what I find fascinating. As AI becomes more powerful, something else is happening at exactly the same time. People are rediscovering the value of being present in the real world.
THE RISE OF IRL — IN REAL LIFE
Nick Brien, CEO of OUTFRONT, has been a strong champion of the growing importance of IRL — In Real Life. And I believe he’s absolutely right.
Chris Corvetti, from my own team at GymTV, shared an observation that really resonated with me. The more digital our lives become, the more we value real-life human connection. We see it every day in our gyms. People don’t just go to gyms to exercise. They go to be part of a community. To interact. To share an experience.
We’re also seeing renewed interest in experiential marketing and product sampling. Think about it: a person physically handing you a product can create a connection that thousands of digital impressions may never achieve. And this extends well beyond advertising.
We’re seeing growing interest in phone-free concerts, events, and experiences where people deliberately put their devices away. Why? Because people want to be present. They want to experience something real. AI is making content infinite. But human attention remains finite. And that is an extraordinary opportunity for our industry.
AI IS CHANGING SEARCH — AND CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRANDS
Now, let’s consider another major development. For two decades, search has been one of the dominant forces in digital advertising. But AI is changing how consumers discover brands, evaluate products, and make purchasing decisions. Look at your own life and how you and your family are now behaving. According to IAB/PwC, U.S. search advertising revenue growth slowed from 16% in 2024 to 11% in 2025. Pew Research has also found that users are significantly less likely to click on traditional search results when an AI-generated summary appears, by 50% less likely to click.
Now, let’s be clear. Search is not going away. It will remain an enormously important advertising channel. But the way consumers discover brands is changing. And that creates a fascinating challenge for CMOs.
For years, brands invested heavily in making sure consumers could find them. But what happens when an AI assistant increasingly becomes the intermediary between consumers and brands? What happens when fewer consumers click through to websites? What happens when discovery is increasingly filtered through algorithms and AI-generated answers?
I believe the answer is that BRAND BUILDING BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT, NOT LESS. Imagine telling your AI agent, “Buy me running shoes.” Now imagine saying, “Buy me Brooks running shoes!” The difference is brand preference—and we can help build it before the consumer ever asks an AI agent to shop. AI may execute the purchase. But WE can help create the desire! Because in an AI-driven world, it is no longer enough for a brand simply to be found. A brand must be KNOWN. It must be TRUSTED. It must be REMEMBERED. And that’s where Out of Home and Digital Out of Home have such an extraordinary role to play.
We build recognition.
We create awareness.
We influence preferences.
We connect brands with consumers in the physical world — before they search, before they shop, and before they make a purchasing decision.
And as AI transforms the economics of digital discovery, I believe advertisers will increasingly recognize the value of that proposition.
MY PREDICTION FOR 2027: PRESENCE BECOMES PREMIUM.
So, where does all this lead us? Here is what I believe we will see in 2027:
More investment in DOOH. More consolidation. More sophisticated measurement. More programmatic buying. More AI-driven planning and execution. And more major players entering our industry.
I believe the DOOH landscape will look very different 12 to 18 months from now.
But my boldest prediction isn’t about technology.
It’s about humanity.
PRESENCE BECOMES PREMIUM.
As artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, authentic human experiences become more valuable. As digital content becomes infinite, real human attention becomes more scarce. And as consumers become increasingly overwhelmed by screens in their pockets, brands will place greater value on reaching them in the places where they actually live their lives.
On the streets. In transit. At work. At play. In gyms, stores, restaurants, airports, and communities. In the REAL WORLD.
Now, with this extraordinary opportunity comes responsibility. We must continue making our industry easier to buy, easier to measure, and easier to integrate into every advertiser’s media strategy. We must collaborate on standards, embrace innovation, and demonstrate measurable results. And that is precisely why the DPAA exists. To bring this remarkable industry together. To accelerate innovation. To champion our collective interests. And to help every one of us seize the opportunities ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen, the physical world is back, and with a vengeance. And I believe we’re only getting started. We are not simply in the business of putting advertising on screens. We are in the business of connecting brands with people in the real world. And in an increasingly artificial world, I cannot think of a more exciting business to be in. Thank you!
And now, it is with gratitude that I thank the team at the DPAA for enabling all of the above. Please join me in thanking Ray, Noah, Zach, Blake, Hannah, Darlene, Briana, Jess, Tim, Doug, Scott and Joe. Finally, it gives me enormous pleasure to introduce the concierge of concierges, the man who brings our industry together like no one else, our very own CEO of the DPAA… MR. BARRY FREY!
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OPENING REMARKS
Barry Frey
President & CEO, DPAA
Merci François! Mon ami. Our Chairman, my good friend, founder of Hivestack, Chief Coaching Officer and CEO of Gym TV in UK, US and… Oh Canada! Very astute analysis of the thriving sector that we are in!
Good morning, everyone AND a big welcome to the 14th annual DPAA Video Everywhere Global Summit! We’re so excited to have you here. In addition to François—another big thank you to our Emmy-nominated poet, IN-Q, for bringing, in-real-life energy this morning.
Many of you may remember that in years past, we’ve kicked off the Summit with me in different places, in different situations. As many of you saw, one year, I was on the roof of the Paramount Building (or as of last week, the Skydance Building) overseeing all the beautiful digital ad signage in Times Square. One year, I was inside a 3D spaceship. And last year I joined our friend “AI Mike” — the hologram on stage. But this year, we wanted to do something different.
Our theme this year is Real Connections, so instead of opening with technology, I wanted to open with a real person on a REAL stage sharing REAL words. That’s why we brought IN-Q to help us start.
And in order to build REAL Connections with REAL knowledge, with best practices, with omnichannel experiences, and… of course with each other – as my friend IN-Q has inspired us today, please say YES to connection and possibility.
Let’s Please….give Francois and IN-Q another hand and let’s start the show.
For years, the advertising industry raced toward the digital world. Today, the DIGITAL world is racing toward us. Out-of-home advertising… once a reach and awareness medium …has truly become full-funnel. Marketers are getting data, automation, addressability, dynamic creative, measurement, attribution, AND programmatic. We drive not only brand fame, brand lift, and awareness, but we also drive consumers to websites, to stores, to action, AND to purchases. We have all of it… AND… we have something else: WE HAVE Real Connections in the physical world.
Why is this important? Because with today’s tech and message saturation, brands are increasingly challenged not only to stand out, but to appear alongside brand-safe content in authentic environments, engaging with authentic humans. Increasingly the digital media world isn’t even entirely human. We ask – what is real? What is AI? What content and ads can we trust? What is authentic? Real news? Fake News?
AI agents are now starting to plan, discover, negotiate, and activate media. We are in a world where 52% of new online content is AI-generated AND where automated bots and AI agents generate 57% of web requests and traffic! Kantar, in working with OUTFRONT Media found that 93% of consumers question whether online content was created by a person or generated by AI.
So where do advertisers find real people, real attention, and real impact?
Digital out-of-home!
OOH has always possessed something no other medium can replicate: The Real World. We reach people where they actually live, work and play. Our one-to-many medium is NOT. served in basements or in echo chambers; it is a one-to-many medium in public, in the sunshine, where you have to be authentic (or else you get tomatoes thrown at the screens).
When that same Kantar study commissioned by OUTFRONT showed consumers the EXACT same creative on OOH and on social, they rated the OOH ad 70% more credible and authentic.
Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief of Media Post, has penned articles and given speeches proclaiming: “Authenticity is the new KPI.”
This empowers our role in the media plan … as it also empowers the media plan.
And our medium continues to grow:
- DOOH spending globally is forecast to grow over 15% this year
- And digital screens are approaching half of all OOH inventory
- DPAA has been doubling down on digital for over a decade now..… when many were hesitant. They thought we were going the wrong direction.Turns out the future was coming our way: Real connections in the real world.
This is DOOH!
We have Measurement, attribution and outcomes. We are seeing data in real time, optimizing and adding reach, impact, and ROI to omnichannel campaigns. Yes there are some still seeking the exacting, perfect measurement. YET, we have something far more powerful that brands and businesses really want…
The recently released 4As’ “Paradox of Plenty” study found that while media measurement capabilities have increased, the CONFIDENCE in them has lagged. When we look at media research, let’s keep in mind that even the largest independent media measurement system in the world, when it delivers the numbers, those measurement numbers are called … “Nielsen estimates.” Just estimates! $70 billion traded on estimates!
DOOH may not showcase precise, easy-to-fit-in-the-box measurement at this point…Yet via smart people at smart companies, like Chris Gadik and ADQUICK, we see that DOOH delivers clear, definable outcomes. Yes DOOH delivers proven, ROI, ROAS and yes, real outcomes up and down the marketing funnel. Thank you again, ADQUICK.
And DOOH is verified. VeriDOOH, growing globally from Australian roots, certifies, measures, and verifies, independently, that campaigns run as intended, building trust and transparency… as brands, agencies, and media owners continually optimize their campaigns to perform as intended. Outcomes and verification build confidence.
DOOH builds brands—and drives performance.
We are reaching consumers on their daily journey: on their path to purchase and increasingly more at the POINT of purchase. DOOH is now starting to see retail media budgets, finally. Moving from where all this $200 billion has been essentially spent: online.
Why? Because the IRL daily journey of global consumers ends up at the physical store where 80% of purchases are made vs. online.
Think about that. We drive search. We drive purchases. That is why DOOH continues to be among the fastest-growing major advertising media. And it is why DPAA members are increasingly competing for — and winning — Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Loonies, Reals and Pesos that have previously gone to television, digital video, CTV, online retail media and other digital channels.
Something BIG is happening. The emotional power of video. The impact and scale of OOH. And the context and authenticity of the real world. Authenticity!
Hey—You know what you can’t fake?
- A spectacular performance in Times Square… Which is why we’ve organized the Book of Mormon Broadway talent to perform this afternoon.
- You can’t fake the connection fans make when they walk into a stadium… You’ll hear more on this when the CMO of Major League Soccer takes our stage.
- You can’t fake the moment something catches your attention while walking through Simon Malls…. and other stores in the Simon Retail Media Network.
- And…staying with authentic retail experiences, the American Eagle CMO will tell us more when he sits down with Stagwell’s Vice Chairman.
- Plus the actual experiencing of products in a Microsoft Store and engaging with humans about AI solutions is something we will hear about today as well.
- And … you certainly cannot fake a packed Madison Square Garden experience, when in June, the New York Knicks executed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history from a 29 Point deficit in Game 4 of the 2026 Finals (and OMG—I was so lucky to be there, right behind the basket, in real life! Fans connecting! The Garden was ON FIRE! Gratitude Sam!)
DOOH lives at the center of all those experiences. We bring media into the shared world where we connect. And in our real world, our Moving Out of Home Association or MOOHA is where Ubers, taxis, trucks all display advertising anywhere and everywhere without the constraints of physical construction, as we have marketed this sector for 3 years now.
We are the medium making real connections. And that brings me to the other idea embedded into the moniker of our Global Summits: Video Everywhere.
We choose that name very deliberately. Video is the most powerful storytelling medium ever created for brands and consumers. And we’ll hear more about that from very successful media mogul Byron Allen this morning.
And now, the most powerful medium – video – IS everywhere, and proliferating outside the home!
AT DPAA, our mission continues as we:
- Connect and grow the global DOOH ecosystem.
- Grow our member companies.
- Grow our individual members …professionally and personally.
- And of course—grow revenue!
Across our global membership, companies are investing enormous amounts of financial, human capital, and innovation into this business:
- Wildstone is investing in the future of the medium as the largest asset owner in Europe.
- Broadsign and VIOOH are making DOOH much easier to access, buy, and target.
- GSTV… Screenvision… Captivate, GYM TV …and MadHive are opening doors to digital, video and CTV budgets.
- GroundTruth is bringing location intelligence and mobile capabilities into the picture.
- 2PointZero, MMG, and Backlight…together… have helped empower growth by investing money, manpower, and smarts into the business.
- And then we have Talon and all of our demand side members continuing to innovate…. across planning, buying, creative and technology.
- And then there’s Dooh.com, a brilliant company….creating and delivering dynamic content that serve….two basic human needs: attention and connection.
The more virtual the world is, the more valuable REAL connections become. Real people. Real experiences. Real attention. Real Outcomes. Real Authenticity. Real Connections. That is what DOOH delivers. And that’s what… TODAY is about. Video is Everywhere – and REAL CONNECTIONS …..have never been more valuable.
And with that, I’m very pleased to welcome our first guest, Mr. Byron Allen, an incredibly successful, smart founder, chairman, and CEO of Allen Media Group…(who btw also now owns Late Night on CBS in more ways than one).
