• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 19, 2013

Digital out-of-home media has been growing fast in the U.S., but the rate of growth in China is positively “blistering,” according to the latest research from PQ Media, which sees Asia’s largest country (and the world’s second largest economy) driving global DOOH growth in coming years.

Chinese DOOH advertising revenues were on track to increase 40% in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, PQ Media notes, which means the Chinese DOOH marketplace may have increased to over $2 billion last year. That would make it second only to the U.S., and with a much steeper trajectory; in 2011, Chinese DOOH revenues grew 39%, equal to an addition of more than $400 million.

The top Chinese DOOH categories are corporate, healthcare, transit, and cinema, which together accounted for roughly two-thirds of total Chinese DOOH revenues in 2011; out-of-home digital billboards made up most of the rest. The leading Chinese DOOH companies -- which operate some of the world’s largest DOOH networks -- include Focus Media, AirMedia, and Vision China. Focus Media alone operates over 200,000 screens in corporate and health care offices.

While a 40% growth rate is spectacular by any measure, PQ Media notes that Chinese DOOH could be growing even faster if the government eased regulations on content distribution. Growth might also be boosted if Chinese ad agencies were more familiar with DOOH, and if the quality of digital signage hardware and infrastructure improved. On the positive side, as in Europe and North America, Chinese media operators are augmenting DOOH networks with mobile, social, and interactive features.

This information is drawn from PQ Media’s forthcoming “PQ Media Global Digital Out-of-Home Forecast 2013-2017,” due to be released next month.