Digital costs more per site than paper. Whether that premium is worth paying comes down to four questions, and for a good number of campaigns the honest answer is no.
The four questions
- Do you need more than one execution? Digital carries several in one booking; paper carries one.
- Does the message change by time of day? Day-parting is the clearest thing the premium buys.
- Is the lead time short? Digital books later than paper, because there is nothing to print and post.
- Might the copy change mid-flight? Only digital can.
What paper still does better
Scale, mostly. The largest sites on the network are paper — 48-sheets and 96-sheets on platform and escalator hall walls. Paper is also always on: a digital site shares its loop with other advertisers, so a share of the dwell time in front of the screen is not yours.
What digital does better
Motion, flexibility and timing. Sequential escalator screens can play one story down the shaft in a way paper approximates but does not match, and a campaign that needs to respond to something — weather, a result, a launch date moving — has no paper equivalent.
| Format | Type | Creative size | Dwell | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital escalator panels | Typedigital | Creative size1200 x 675 px | Dwell45 to 90 seconds | Indicative cost£25,000 per station run, per 2 weeks |
| Digital gateways | Typedigital | Creative size1080 x 1920 px | Dwell10 to 20 seconds | Indicative cost£12,000 to £40,000 per 2 weeks |
| Digital 6-sheet (D6) | Typedigital | Creative size1080 x 1920 px, 5 second slot | Dwell30 to 60 seconds | Indicative cost£1,500 per screen, per 2 weeks |
| Digital 12-sheet (D12) | Typedigital | Creative size1920 x 1080 px | Dwell30 to 60 seconds | Indicative cost£3,000 per screen, per 2 weeks |
| Digital 48-sheet (D48) | Typedigital | Creative sizeSpecification supplied at booking | DwellThe full platform wait | Indicative cost£2,000 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| Digital ribbon | Typedigital | Creative sizeSpecification supplied at booking | Dwell45 to 90 seconds | Indicative cost£35,000 per run, per 2 weeks |
| Tube car panels | Typestatic | Creative size580 x 200 mm | Dwell21 minute average dwell | Indicative cost£18 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 16-sheet cross-track | Typestatic | Creative size2032 x 3048 mm | Dwell2 minutes 14 seconds | Indicative cost£2,250 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 48-sheet posters | Typestatic | Creative size3048 x 6096 mm | Dwell2 minutes 14 seconds | Indicative cost£6,000 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 12-sheet posters | Typestatic | Creative sizeSpecification supplied at booking | Dwell2 minutes 14 seconds | Indicative cost£2,000 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 96-sheet posters | Typestatic | Creative size3048 x 12192 mm | Dwell2 minutes 14 seconds | Indicative cost£1,800 to £3,200 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 6-sheet posters (paper) | Typestatic | Creative size1200 x 1800 mm | Dwell20 to 40 seconds | Indicative cost£1,750 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| 4-sheet posters | Typestatic | Creative size1016 x 1524 mm | Dwell20 to 40 seconds | Indicative cost£750 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| Escalator panels (static) | Typestatic | Creative size1016 x 1524 mm | Dwell45 to 90 seconds | Indicative cost£300 per panel, per 2 weeks |
| Station domination | Typepackage | Creative sizeBespoke pack | DwellThe whole journey through the station | Indicative cost£40,000 to £250,000 per station, per 2 weeks |
Sources and references
- Media owner rate cards — Every price on this site is indicative planning guidance pending verification against current rate cards.
