MUMBAI: News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch is now prowling the out of home (OOH) advertising market in India wanting a slice of the Rs 9.24 billion pie.

News Outdoor India (NOI) will be the local arm of News Corp’s OOH subsidiary News Outdoor Group (NOG) and will be headed by a former senior executive of Star India, Sumantra 'Sumo' Dutta.

According to sources in the advertising industry, which is buzzing with anticipation on NOG’s arrival, the name of the Indian entity has been registered with the relevant authorities and is likely to be formally announced in six to eight weeks time.

However, News Outdoor India has started its groundwork in the country and is in the process of putting together its market strategy.

According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, the agency would also be looking at other countries in the subcontinent as its area of growth after launching in India where striking alliances with existing big and small OOH players will be crucial to its growth.

At present, advertising agencies with OOH operations in India include WPP's newly launched Kinetic, Mudra's Primesite, Lintas' Aaren Initiative and Madison Communications' Madison Outdoor Media Services (MOMS).

"It is a good thing that big professional players are taking interest in the outdoor market. It will only help grow and expand the market as a whole and also help bring about some structure in the outdoor industry," MOMS chief executive officer Soumitra S Bhattacharyya said when asked about NOG's entry.

In 2005, ad revenues for the OOH segment in India added up to Rs 9.24 billion, which is seven per cent of the Rs 132 billion total ad market comprising TV, press, radio, Internet, cinema and OOH.

MOMS' Bhattacharyya, however, doesn’t think the OOH segment will witness rapid growth this year. "I don’t think there will be an increase in the growth rate. It will continue at a 10 - 11 per cent growth rate because while the number of players is increasing, there are limited media options available."

Meanwhile, News Outdoor India managing director Dutta has worked in various capacities in Star India, the Indian subsidiary of Murdoch’s pan-Asian TV venture. He was part of the core team responsible for the "Indianisation" of Star Plus and the successful launch of Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2000, which turned around Star’s fortunes.

Dutta has also been responsible for setting up Radio City, a private sector FM radio venture, where Star supplied content and took care of marketing and ad sales. Last year, Star exited the FM radio venture at a time when Radio City was an established brand and doing well in terms of revenue.

The Russia-headquartered News Outdoor Group’s global strategy is to grow its presence in the current countries of operation as well as in other emerging markets in Europe and worldwide.

The group has shown interested in purchasing out of home advertising assets, which are of high quality and standing in their local markets. Going by this, it is most likely that after setting up shop in India, NOG is likely to make a lunge for some acquisitions.

News Corp entered the OOH advertising market in 1999 and NOG has since become the leading OOH advertising company in Emerging Europe.

The company offers high-quality advertising displays in prime locations through its operating subsidiaries like News Outdoor Bulgaria, News Outdoor Czech Republic, MMaximedia Israel, News Outdoor Poland, News Outdoor Romania, News Outdoor Russia, Kamera (Turkey) and News Outdoor Ukraine.

News Outdoor Group's main products include billboards, street furniture and bus shelters, unique boards, airport transit advertising and in-store POS (shopping mall, supermarket) displays.

(Rs. 44=1US$)