Clear Channel Outdoor and the Afterschool Alliance today set out a national campaign that will run a Detroit 10th-grader's design across close to 2,000 digital billboards in October, with two jumbo displays in Times Square and a lighting of Boston's South Station scheduled for October 22.

In Short

Clear Channel Outdoor, a US billboard owner, is showing a teenage afterschool student's design on its digital billboards during October. The Afterschool Alliance says parents of 29.6 million US children want afterschool places while only 7 million children are enrolled, and the campaign is meant to draw attention to that gap. What changes from earlier years is who made the creative, since the donated footprint described, with 25 markets and close to 2,000 billboards, matches what Clear Channel cited in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

What the campaign covers

Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE: CCO) is donating some of its most prominent spaces to afterschool messages on digital billboards in 25 US markets throughout October, according to the company. The student's "Powered by Afterschool" design will run across nearly 2,000 digital billboards during the month, according to the Afterschool Alliance, as part of Lights On Afterschool, the 27th annual nationwide celebration of afterschool programs.

October 22 is the focal date. On that day, according to Clear Channel, the artwork appears on two jumbo billboards in New York City's Times Square, and the company will illuminate Boston's South Station. The National League of Cities and the National Summer Learning Association will champion the campaign.

The celebration itself belongs to the Afterschool Alliance, which organizes it. Some 8,000 events are planned on or around October 22, hosted by schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, 4-H clubs, cities, parks, museums and community centers, among others. USHER serves as Honorary Chair. Communities are arranging special lightings of buildings, bridges and parks, and mayors and governors are declaring October 22 Lights On Afterschool Day, according to the Afterschool Alliance.

The student behind the design

Evelyn Daniel, a 10th-grader at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, produced the design through Usher's New Look programming at the Michigan Central Boys & Girls Club Spark Lab, according to the Afterschool Alliance. The lab, as the organization describes it, gives young people "real-world work experience with industry experts." Communications and design professionals guided her throughout, and Clear Channel supplied feedback and considerations for the billboard format.

That last detail is the only technical one in the materials. Dimensions, the length of each ad play and the number of creative variants go unmentioned.

Evelyn said: "I'm an artist at heart, and in making the design for the billboard, I learned how to plan ahead and how to stick to a plan to make a project come together."

Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, framed the project as evidence of what programs deliver. "Evelyn's work creating the 'Powered by Afterschool' billboards, with guidance from communications and design pros, demonstrates firsthand the kind of real-world learning, career exploration, mentorship, and growth that afterschool programs offer young people," she said.

Dan Levi, Clear Channel's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, pointed to a shift in emphasis. "This year, we're putting the spotlight on the youth themselves, bringing student-designed creative from Usher's New Look to billboards nationwide," he said.

The demand figures behind the campaign

The statistical case rests on America After 3PM, the household survey commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance. According to the Alliance, the latest data show that parents of 29.6 million US children want afterschool programs for their children, while just 7 million are enrolled. The first figure is about 4.2 times the second.

The Alliance adds that students who take part in afterschool programs do better in school, reach higher levels of education and gain lasting skills such as problem solving, teamwork and communication. It describes the supporting evidence as large and powerful, though the text names no study.

A recurring donation with a new creative source

Few of the campaign's structural features are new. Clear Channel's releases for earlier editions describe the same arrangement: a campaign across more than 1,000 digital billboards in 2020, more than 2,000 in 2021, and nearly 2,000 in the releases for 2022, 2023 and 2025, each with donated space in 25 markets, according to Clear Channel. The 2024 edition also named 25 markets and listed Usher's New Look as a partner, according to the company's release for that year. Rally dates fell on October 26 in 2023, October 24 in 2024 and October 23 in 2025.

Two differences stand out. The first is the creative, which now comes from a student rather than from the afterschool messages shown in earlier editions. The second is the list of formats. Clear Channel's 2025 release named bus shelters and poster spaces alongside digital billboards among the donated placements, while the 2026 text names digital billboards only and does not say whether the other formats are included.

What the materials leave out

Several items common in media announcements are absent. No value is attached to the donated space. No impression count, audience estimate or measurement partner appears. The 25 markets are not named, and neither is the number of billboards in each. The materials tie the nearly 2,000 figure to the student's design and the 25-market figure to donated afterschool messages, without stating that the two coincide. What "illuminate" means at Boston's South Station - a screen, a projection or a building lighting - is not specified.

One figure also sits awkwardly against the record. A release distributed in October 2020 by the Afterschool Alliance and Clear Channel cited an earlier America After 3PM survey of more than 30,000 families that put participation at 10.2 million students nationwide. The new text gives 7 million enrolled, without saying whether survey edition, definitions or the period measured explain the difference, so the two numbers cannot be compared directly.

Why it matters to marketers

Donated space on a network that is also sold

Media owners seldom publish what a donated slot displaces. In Phoenix, a donated heat-relief campaign entered its third year in May, with county officials estimating 220 million views for the 2025 messaging and the donated placements judged likely to sit in available inventory windows rather than displace sold campaigns. The afterschool materials say nothing about how slots are allocated and offer no figure comparable to the Phoenix estimate.

Estimates are the norm here. Digital out-of-home is sold and measured differently from web advertising, because a single play reaches many people at once, so audience numbers are modelled rather than counted. The channel is also growing. US out-of-home revenue reached a record $9.46 billion in 2025, up 3.6%, with digital formats at 36.3% of the total and growing 10.5%. A separate forecast from Guideline puts digital growth at 14.5% in 2026 against 1.5% for traditional formats.

An owner awaiting a change of control

Clear Channel is also mid-transaction. It agreed on February 9, 2026 to a $6.2 billion take-private deal with Mubadala Capital and TWG Global at $2.43 per share, a 71% premium to the $1.42 close on October 16, 2025. Stockholders approved the merger on May 12, 2026. According to a Clear Channel filing dated October 1, 2026, closing is now expected early in the fourth quarter, subject to the remaining required regulatory approval. The afterschool materials list the company as NYSE: CCO and make no mention of the transaction.

Times Square, two weeks apart

The week's other Clear Channel placement also involves Times Square: Land O'Lakes and Getty Images put rural imagery there during Advertising Week New York, with more cities due around October 12. Whether that space was bought, donated or exchanged went unstated. For the afterschool campaign the donation is stated but not valued.

What the materials do establish is narrow: a student's design, a footprint repeated for years and one date. October 22 will show how large the lightings and the events turn out to be. Whether any audience figure follows is not indicated.

Timeline

  • October 14, 2020 - The Afterschool Alliance and Clear Channel Outdoor cite a campaign across more than 1,000 digital billboards for the 21st Lights On Afterschool, according to their release.
  • 2021 - Clear Channel's release for the 22nd edition cites more than 2,000 digital billboards.
  • 2022 - Clear Channel's release cites nearly 2,000 billboards, with donated space in 25 markets.
  • October 4, 2023 - Clear Channel's release for the 24th edition cites nearly 2,000 billboards, with the rally on October 26.
  • 2024 - The 25th edition names 25 markets and Usher's New Look as a partner, with the rally on October 24.
  • October 9, 2025 - Clear Channel's release for the 26th edition cites nearly 2,000 billboards in 25 markets and a rally on October 23.
  • February 9, 2026 - Clear Channel agrees a $6.2 billion take-private deal with Mubadala Capital and TWG Global.
  • May 6, 2026 - The Phoenix heat-relief billboard campaign is reported as entering its third consecutive year.
  • May 12, 2026 - Clear Channel stockholders approve the merger.
  • October 1, 2026 - A Clear Channel filing says closing is now expected early in the fourth quarter, subject to the remaining required regulatory approval.
  • October 5 to 8, 2026 - Advertising Week New York runs, with the Land O'Lakes, Getty Images and Clear Channel campaign in Times Square.
  • Today - Clear Channel Outdoor and the Afterschool Alliance set out the student-designed campaign for the 27th Lights On Afterschool.
  • October 2026 - The "Powered by Afterschool" design runs across close to 2,000 digital screens, with donated space in 25 markets.
  • October 22, 2026 - Two jumbo billboards in Times Square carry the artwork, Boston's South Station is illuminated, and about 8,000 events take place on or around the date.

Summary

Who: Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE: CCO) and the Afterschool Alliance, with Usher's New Look, student Evelyn Daniel, the National League of Cities and the National Summer Learning Association. Named executives are Jodi Grant of the Afterschool Alliance and Dan Levi of Clear Channel Outdoor.

What: A national campaign running a student-designed "Powered by Afterschool" design across close to 2,000 digital screens in October, with donated space in 25 markets, two jumbo billboards in Times Square and an illuminated South Station in Boston on October 22.

When: Set out today, running during October, with October 22 as the focal date for the 27th annual Lights On Afterschool and about 8,000 events on or around it.

Where: 25 US markets, including Times Square in New York City and South Station in Boston. The student works through a Boys & Girls Club lab in Detroit.

Why: The Afterschool Alliance says parents of 29.6 million US children want afterschool programs while 7 million are enrolled, and Clear Channel donates space each year to raise visibility. The materials leave out the value of the donated space, audience figures and a measurement approach, and they do not address Clear Channel's pending ownership change.