Location-based media network Danoo has acquired IdeaCast from National CineMedia, operator of the largest digital cinema network in North America for cinema advertising, for an undisclosed sum, reports MediaBuyerPlanner.

The move helps consolidate the highly fragmented digital out-of-home industry, creating one of the largest digital media platforms in the location-based media space, according to the companies. The new Danoo corporate entity will continue to operate and sell advertising across its digital media networks under the Danoo and IdeaCast brands.

National CineMedia and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm, will each hold a minority interest in the new company. The assets acquired by Danoo had been previously acquired by NCM from the original IdeaCast entity.

Danoo and IdeaCast offer advertising in thousands of high-traffic venues, including health clubs, airport newsstands, seatback TVs on JetBlue, Frontier and Continental Airlines, and a dense concentration of coffeehouses, upscale delis and cafes in the top US media markets.

National CineMedia CEO Kurt Hall said that the "new, larger unique platform will offer media buyers the combination of nationwide reach and the ability to narrowly target messages to specific geographic locations. As location-based digital media is still overly fragmented, this combination is an important step in our effort to bring greater national reach and more standardized buying metrics to the media community."

Though digital out-of-home is growing, its growth has been limited by the fact that while hundreds of companies across the country offer ad options, they are fragmented and few have national reach. In addition to the IdeaCast deal, a few mergers have taken place to help consolidate the market, including the merger of Fuelcast and Bhootan to form Outcast, and Zoom Media & Marketing’s acquisitions that have helped it increase its network in health clubs and bars, writes Mediaweek.

National CineMedia and Danoo plan to work together to continue to improve the digital out-of-home space. “There are too many different models and metrics,” said Hall. “The media world is ready, but it’s our responsibility to provide the research and metrics to buy it effectively.”