New billboard concessions generate triple revenue for Basel-Stadt
From 2018, four companies instead of just one will be allowed to use the total of 4500 billboards in Basel-Stadt. By reallocating the expiring Palakat concession, the government has more than tripled its revenue.
The significant additional revenue for the canton is due to the tender, the Department of Construction and Transport announced on Wednesday. Annual revenues of over nine million francs are expected. For advertisers, on the other hand, the prices for billboard advertising on public land would fall.
Seven companies bid for the 2,000 large-format and 2,500 small-format billboards. In the large-scale category, the previous concession holder Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft APG was awarded seven lots, while Clear Channel was awarded two lots. In the small-scale category, Kulturbox and Kulturservice were considered.
The new concession is valid for ten years, i.e. up to and including 2028. It also brings newer technology to Basel's Allmend, namely digital billboards and illuminated rotating columns. The canton "attached importance to a restrained design of the digital advertising spaces in the tender," it continued.
The billboard concession had caused trouble in Basel at the turn of the millennium: At that time, the building department had wanted to grant the concession to APG and have the latter pay for WC facilities in return. The city council stopped this deal because the canton would have lost a total of between 32 and 42 million Swiss francs over the 15-year term - for a consideration of around six million.
