An estimate of the value of advertising rights to landowners from billboard site rentals

The purpose of this study was to estimate the value of advertising rights to landowners from existing billboard site rentals. To accomplish this purpose the writer; (1) discussed the background of the Highway Beautification Act; (2) analyzed the number and location of existing billboards as indicated by the Department of Highways inventory; (3) selected a sample area and collected rental information; and (h) discussed the application of existing appraisal techniques to the valuation of advertising rights. II. SUMMARY The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 provides for the control of outdoor advertising and junkyards along the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and along the Federal Aid Primary Highway System. The implementation of this Act by the various states will result in the removal of billboards along many miles of highway frontage. This removal will affect outdoor advertising companies, private businesses utilizing this media of advertising, and landowners who are currently receiving rental income from billboard sites. This study has considered the value of existing billboard sites in Tennessee by estimating the amount of site rental income received annually and capitalizing this income stream into an estimate of value. In order to compute this estimate, it was necessary to collect information concerning the number of billboards and amount of rental income received. An inventory of existing billboards conducted by the Tennessee Department of Highways located and classified 24,366 billboards in Tennessee located along 6,042.5 miles of highway frontage. The counties with urban centers were found to have the largest proportion of billboards. The counties with the largest number of billboards are Hamilton, Davidson, Shelby, Knox, and Marion respectively.