British Transport Commission (BTC)

After Nationalisation in 1948 the British Transport Commission got rid of all the external contractors for advertising and formed British Transport Advertising to cover the  needs of its various transport operations including railways, buses, shipping, and London Transport. As part of its central services including legal, police and property the British Transport Commission had its advertising services. This was known as the Commercial Advertising Division and was headquartered in Cranbourn Chambers above Leicester Square tube station. In 1960 the Commercial Advertising Division was renamed British Transport Advertising and Cranbourn Chambers was renamed Transad House.

British Transport Advertising

In 1962 the British Transport Commission was abolished. As a result the London Transport part of British Transport Advertising passed to the new London Transport Board. This became London Transport Advertising. Meanwhile the rest of British Transport Advertising was set up as a limited company under the auspices of the British Rail Board and the Transport Holding Company. Thus covering the rail and road transport interests. For a while it continued to serve the ports (British Transport Docks) and waterways (British Waterways) in an agency role. In 1986 the Transport Holding Company (by this time known as the National Bus Company) was being wound up and privatised. As a result British Rail decided that British Transport Advertising should become fully independent. Therefore a management buyout took place in 1987. From this time as an independent company, British Transport Advertising continued to provide services to British Rail and some bus companies and undertook limited diversification.

London Transport Advertising

Meanwhile the London Transport Advertising continued to flourish under the auspices of the London Transport Board. In 1970 control was passed to the new Greater London Council and LT country bus services passed to the National Bus Company. Then in 1984 London Regional Transport was created and subsidiary companies were set up for each of the main operations. However London Transport Advertising continued as a central service of London Regional Transport. As new operations joined such as Victoria Coach Station and the Docklands Light Railway, London Transport Advertising met their needs as well.

Privatisation:

In 1993 London Transport Advertising was renamed LTA Advertising Ltd and set up as a limited company in preparation for privatisation. In 1994 LTA Advertising Ltd was privatised and sold to the LDI Ltd consortium (comprising Hambro Group Investments and TDI Advertising Inc.). In 1995 LTA Advertising Ltd was renamed TDI Advertising Ltd and became a directly owned subsidiary of its American parent company, TDI Advertising Inc.

In late summer 1995 British Transport Advertising was privatised and acquired by Maiden Outdoor Advertising. In November 1995 British Transport Advertising was bought by TDI except for the railway sites that remained with Maiden. The company was renamed TDI Transit Advertising Ltd. This transferred to TDI the portfolio of advertising that was held by the National Bus Company. Thus London Transport and National Bus Company advertising services were reunited under TDI. However the railway advertising remained with Maiden Outdoor Advertising. In 2006 Maiden Outdoor Advertising Group plc was acquired by Titan Worldwide and renamed Titan Outdoor UK.

In 1995 TDI Group became a subsidiary of the American owned Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, although it retained its name and independence. In 1996 Infinity was acquired by the massive CBS Corporation. In 1999 Infinity acquired the advertising firm, Outdoor Systems. But that year CBS Corporation was acquired by the Viacom Group. In August 2001 they consolidated their advertising businesses under the name Viacom Outdoor. As a result the TDI operations in the UK were also renamed as Viacom Outdoor and remains one of the major advertising players in the UK. Then in 2006 Viacom hived off its CBS Corporation subsidiary into a separate independent company. As a result in January 2007 Viacom Outdoor was rebranded as CBS Outdoor in line with its new CBS Corporation parent company.

Due to its historical legacy CBS Outdoor continues to provide advertising services to the transport operations of Transport for London (including London Underground, London Buses, Victoria Coach Station, Docklands Light Railway, and Croydon Tramlink) as well as many of the major bus operators in the UK (this again being a legacy of its link with the former National Bus Company). Today , also due to its historical legacy Titan Outdoor UK continues to provide advertising to the railways.

Titan Outdoor UK
www.titanoutdoor.co.uk

Titan Worldwide (parent company of Titan Outdoor UK)
www.titanoutdoor.com

CBS Outdoor Ltd
www.cbsoutdoor.co.uk

CBS Corporation (parent company of CBS Outdoor Ltd)
www.cbscorporation.com