Cinépolis India scales up cinema advertising business, ties up with It’s Spotlight for DOOH rollout

Cinépolis India is expanding its presence in cinema advertising, partnering with digital out-of-home (DOOH) media company It’s Spotlight to operate and monetise digital screens across its cinema properties nationwide.

Under the partnership, It’s Spotlight will manage more than 350 digital assets—including LED screens, video walls, and other digital displays—across Cinépolis India’s 101 cinemas spanning 63 cities in 23 states and Union Territories. The screens will primarily be deployed in cinema lobby areas, positioning them as a new advertising touchpoint aimed at brands targeting urban and premium audiences.

The move marks a strategic push by Cinépolis India to build a structured cinema advertising business alongside its core exhibition operations. While cinema advertising has traditionally been limited to on-screen commercials before film screenings, lobby-based digital inventory allows exhibitors to tap into the growing DOOH market, which is increasingly attracting advertiser interest.

A new screen-based revenue stream

“Cinema environments offer advertisers access to audiences in a focused, lean-forward setting, which is distinct from outdoor and transit media,” said Devang Sampat, Managing Director, Cinépolis India. As advertisers seek alternatives to what he described as cluttered digital and social platforms, Sampat said cinema advertising offers a differentiated route to reach young and urban consumers, while allowing the company to remain focused on its core exhibition business.

The expansion comes amid steady growth in India’s out-of-home advertising sector. According to the EY-FICCI Media & Entertainment Report 2024, India’s OOH advertising market stood at ₹5,920 crore in 2024, with digital OOH expected to increase its share from 12% of total OOH revenues to 17% by 2027. Industry executives see programmatic buying and measurable performance metrics as key drivers behind this shift.

Why advertisers are betting on DOOH

For It’s Spotlight, the partnership provides access to national scale through a single exhibitor network. “Cinema screens sit at the intersection of attention, intent, and experience,” said Virkaran Singh, Founder and Director, It’s Spotlight. He added that the network would allow advertisers to execute national campaigns with programmatic buying, real-time analytics, and performance-linked execution across Cinépolis properties.

Advertisers using the network will have access to campaign optimisation tools and performance metrics such as impressions, audience profiling, and footfall data—capabilities that are increasingly becoming standard expectations in the DOOH ecosystem.

Cinépolis India, a subsidiary of global cinema chain Cinépolis, currently operates 449 screens across the country under the Cinépolis, Cinépolis VIP, and Fun Cinemas brands.

With the DOOH tie-up, Cinépolis India joins a growing list of cinema and retail operators seeking to monetise physical spaces through data-driven advertising, as brands increasingly look to balance digital reach with high-attention offline environments.