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NYC Nears $1 Billion Ad Contract

This summer, New York City will award a 20-year contract to a single firm that will have citywide advertising rights and custodial duties over 3,300 bus shelters, some 330 newsstands, and 20 public toilets, The Village Voice reports. The biggest single such deal in the world, revenues of NYC’s street furniture franchise are expected to exceed $1 billion, of which the city will receive $100 million.

Two of the five companies that responded to the city’s RFP, Viacom and Clear Channel, have been knocked out of the running for unknown reasons. For the past decade, Viacom has held an interim contract over the city’s bus shelters. Clear Channel, on the other hand, is the world’s largest outdoor advertising firm.

That leaves Van Wagner Outdoor, Cemusa, a Spanish company, and French firm, JC Decaux, which has been trying to secure the city’s franchise since 1990 and has teamed with NBC Universal on the bid, in the running. JC Decaux, the first company to provide free bus shelters and ad revenues in exchange for city contracts, is the odds on favorite.