Fourteen formats are buyable on the London Underground, and they do genuinely different jobs. This is the full comparison — cost, creative specification, where each one sits and how long the audience spends with it.
| 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 |
Digital or paper?
Digital costs more per site. What the premium buys is flexibility: day-parting against the commute, multiple executions in one booking, shorter lead times and the ability to change copy mid-flight. If none of those matter to the campaign, paper buys more sites for the money.
Formats by job
- Sequential storytelling — escalator panels, digital or static. Forty-five to ninety seconds, one story told in frames.
- Impact at scale — 48-sheet and 96-sheet posters, digital gateways. Seen once, seen large.
- The platform wait — cross-track 16-sheets and digital 12-sheets, read across the track for the full wait.
- Local coverage — 6-sheets and digital 6-sheets, bought station by station or as a pack.
- Long copy — Tube car panels, read across an average thirteen-minute journey.
- Everything at once — a station domination, one advertiser holding every site in the station.
Creative specifications
Sizes are not interchangeable between formats, and within a pack the sites can differ. Confirm the specification for each site before artwork goes into production, and supply to the copy deadline rather than the on-air date so there is room for a clearance amend.
Sources and references
- Media owner rate cards — Every price on this site is indicative planning guidance pending verification against current rate cards.
