If you’re taking a train in the Netherlands these days, you’d better bring something to read, because there are no advertising screens to keep you occupied these days. A commercial dispute (not a pun) over the right to run the electric billboards has resulted in a court-ordered shutdown of about 5,000 signs in 500 stations.
An appeal court in Arnhem ruled that the state-owned railway system NS, which owns the signs, broke the law in 2011 when it awarded the contracts to Exterion Media and Ngage Media. Both were originally Dutch companies, but now are both owned by Global, a British company. The court said that under EU law, bidding should have been open to companies across the EU.
The award was challenged by French advertising operator JCDecaux, which is the worldwide 800-pound canary in the business of outdoor advertising and giant screens. The court ruled that Decaux was entitled to compensation, and that NS cannot allow anyone to sell and display ads on the screens until a new contractor is selected and a contract signed. NS has until January 2 to appeal, but is anxious to move forward and not lose even more ad revenue.
