Commercial models
How a screen media deal is paid.
Before a centre signs with a media network, someone has to decide who buys the screens, who owns them, and how the owner is paid. These are the structures we see, and what each one puts in the agreement.
- 2
- Ways to fund the screens
- 3
- Ways the owner is paid
- 7
- Questions to settle before signing
- 12 to 14 weeks
- Lead time for new hardware
A shopping centre owner can let a media network fund, install and own the advertising screens, or buy the screens and let the network sell the space on them. Either way the owner is paid a fixed fee, a share of advertising revenue, or a base fee plus a share. Nextage works through each option with the owner and negotiates the chosen one with the network. Nextage does not sell the advertising itself.
Where the money goes
Who pays whom, in each model
Network funded
Advertisers
Book campaigns on the screens
Media network
Buys, installs and owns the screens, and sells the space
Owner
Hosts the screens and is paid
Owner funded
Advertisers
Book campaigns on the screens
Media network
Sells the space
Owner
Buys and owns the screens; Nextage installs and maintains them
Who funds the screens
Network funded or owner funded, side by side
Owning the screens changes more than who pays for them. This is what moves.
| Network funded | Owner funded | |
|---|---|---|
| Who buys the screens | The media network | You |
| Up front cost to you | None | The hardware, power and data, and installation |
| Who owns them during the term | The network | You |
| Screen time for your own content | Whatever the network agrees to, if anything | Slots in the loop for centre events, tenant offers and notices, negotiated into the deal |
| Your share of revenue | Set with the network's hardware cost in mind | Negotiated higher, because the network carries no hardware cost |
| Who chooses the hardware and where it goes | The network | You, with us |
| Who pays for repairs | Set in the agreement | You, with our aftercare: monitoring, spares and a 3 year warranty on quoted hardware |
| Exclusivity | Common, and it can reach car parks, pylons and outdoor signs | Negotiable; keep it to the screens you own |
| At the end of the term | The screens leave with the network, or stay, as the agreement says | The screens stay, and the media rights can go to tender again |
| On your books | Not your asset | A depreciating asset: the ATO sets 5 to 7 years for centre advertising panels |
The number of slots and the share are negotiated per site. We do not publish them.
Owner funded, in detail
What owning the screens gets you
Your own slots in every loop
Agree how many slots in each loop are yours, and in which hours: centre events, tenant promotions, wayfinding, safety and community notices. The network sells the rest.
A higher revenue share
With no hardware to pay off, the network's case for a low share goes. It is the first thing we negotiate.
Your choice of network, every term
The screens stay when the agreement ends, so the media rights can go to tender again without starting from a bare wall.
Your hardware, your placement
You choose the format, size and position with us, for the zones that suit the centre, not only the ones that sell best.
Your play logs
Ask whose content management system runs the screens. If it is yours, the proof of play records are yours to check against the revenue reports.
What you carry
The purchase, power and data, repairs and replacement. New hardware takes 12 to 14 weeks from order.
Depreciation
How long the ATO says these assets last
Owner funded screens are a depreciating asset. These are the Commissioner's effective lives from Table B of tax ruling TR 2022/1.
| Asset, as the ATO lists it | Effective life |
|---|---|
| Wall mounted digital LED advertising panels (shopping centres, airports, rail concourses) | 5 years |
| Floor mounted internal advertising panels (shopping centres, airports) | 7 years |
| Wall mounted static advertising panels | 10 years |
| Kiosks and other external standalone advertising panel structures | 15 years |
| Billboard digital LED screens | 6 years |
| Billboard steel structures | 20 years |
General information, not tax advice. Your accountant decides which entry applies and how.
How you are paid
Fee, share, or both
| Payment | How it works | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed fee | A set amount for the right to sell advertising on the screens, whatever is sold | How the fee moves over the term |
| Revenue share | A percentage of what the network sells | Gross or net, and what is deducted before your share is counted |
| Fee plus share | A base fee with a share of revenue on top | How each part is worked out, and which reports show it |
We do not publish typical percentages or fees. They depend on the site, and a number on a website is not a number in your agreement.
Owner funded
Five things to settle when you own the screens
- How many slots in each loop are yours, in which hours, and can the network sell them when you leave them empty?
- What share of revenue do you receive, on gross or net, and how does it move over the term?
- Whose content management system runs the screens, and who keeps the play logs?
- Who schedules your own content, and how much notice does the network need?
- At the end of the term, can a new network take over the same screens without a fee or a removal?
Before you sign
Seven questions every agreement has to answer
The same terms we read in an existing agreement, asked before a new one is signed.
- Is it a fee, a share, or both, and how does each move over the term?
- Is the share worked out on gross or net revenue, and what comes off first?
- When does it end, how much notice is needed, and does it renew itself if nobody acts?
- Which revenue and proof of play reports do you get, how often, and can you check them?
- What happens to payments while a screen is dark, and who has to fix it by when?
- Who pays for repairs, power and data, and who holds the spare parts?
- At the end, who owns the hardware, who removes it, and what make good applies?
Billboards on your own land
A site beside a busy road
Fixed rent
An operator leases the spot and pays a set amount, whatever it sells.
Revenue share
The operator pays a share of the advertising it sells on the sign.
Rent plus share
A base rent with a share on top.
Approvals first
Whatever the deal, an outdoor sign needs council approval, and near a main road the road authority has a say. Our outdoor screens page sets out the rules by state.
FAQ
About commercial models
Which model pays the owner more?
It depends on the site, the traffic and the term, and we will not promise a number. We put the options side by side for your sites before anything is negotiated.
How long are these agreements?
Each one is negotiated. The large portfolio deals announced in 2026 were described as multi year. The rollover and exit clauses matter as much as the length.
Who pays for power and data to the screens?
The agreement decides. It is one of the seven terms we read before anything is signed.
Can we keep some screen time for our own content?
Yes, and owning the screens makes it easier to ask for. The number of slots in each loop, and the hours, are written into the agreement. Under a network funded deal it depends on what the network offers.
Do we get a higher revenue share if we own the screens?
You are in a position to ask for one, because the network carries no hardware cost. That is the argument we make for you. We do not quote a percentage.
Can we change media network later?
At the end of the term, or earlier if the agreement allows it. If the network owns the screens, the agreement decides whether they are removed and who makes good the site.
Weighing up a screen deal?
Send us the offer or the agreement. We will tell you what it says.