• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 30, 2009

This spring, NBC Universal launched a place-based network on the commuter train line between New York City and New Jersey. Now, an out-of-home ad company, Titan Worldwide, is exploring a similar venture on the rails connecting Long Island and other suburbs to the city.

Not long after the NBCU "PATHvision" debuted in April, Titan and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) started a trial with screens aboard cars on the MTA's Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North system.

So far, the scope of the test includes only a single car on each line. And there is no timetable for a further rollout. Titan and the MTA have conducted focus groups with riders, while assessing potential ad dollars and whether operational hurdles could be in the way.

"We're going to evaluate whether it's fiscally feasible at this time for either of us," an MTA spokeswoman said.

Each of the trial cars is outfitted with four digital flat screens facing sitting passengers. Ads run about 10 seconds each.

Updated daily, editorial content includes lifestyle features culled from nymag.com (the Web site for New York Magazine) and news and weather delivered via RSS feeds. The MTA can also run promotional messages or details about schedule changes.

Titan is handling the ad sales and paid for the installation. The test cars were set in motion in mid-June on the LIRR, and several weeks before on Metro-North.

"Part of the reason we're doing the test is so we can figure out ... what types of content work, what the riders will respond to," said Dave Etherington, senior vice president and worldwide marketing director at Titan.

Titan is in the third year of a 10-year deal to sell advertising on the LIRR and Metro-North lines, but would have to negotiate a separate deal for a wide rollout of screens in cars and on platforms, the MTA representative said.

The LIRR stretches from the eastern tip of Long Island to Manhattan's Penn Station, while Metro-North covers multiple counties in New York state and Connecticut. The NBCU network is in place on the PATH system, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. All three lines ferry passengers to and from multiple upscale suburbs, offering advertisers the potential to reach a desirable audience.

A Titan-MTA agreement could serve as another revenue generator for the cash-strapped MTA, which has been exploring a range of new advertising opportunities. Last month, it sold the naming rights to a Brooklyn subway station to Barclays Bank for $4 million.

Under its "PATHVision" deal, NBCU is a subcontractor of JCDecaux. The out-of-home company obtained rights to an "infotainment" network on the PATH system in an agreement with the Port Authority.

NBCU could owe Decaux $4 million, or more, if the contract runs for 13 years. At least $1.5 million is guaranteed.

The agreement calls for NBCU to pay Decaux a guaranteed minimum amount each year, or a percentage of gross ad revenue -- whichever figure is higher.

The first year has no minimum and Decaux will receive 10% of revenues. Then, in the second year, Decaux will receive a minimum payment of $100,000, or 10% of revenue.

If the contract runs for 13 years -- which would include a renewal -- it tops out with a $500,000 minimum payment to Decaux, or 25% of revenue.

"PATHVision" is available on waiting platforms and is scheduled to be inside train cars by the end of the year. NBCU advertisers include LegalZoom.com and Hilton hotels. Ads can include a banner on the right, while video plays alongside. The network has no sound.

Titan's pilot program with the MTA is more limited in video opportunities. Ads are largely static, although there is some animation.

Titan operates a network with full video in the United Kingdom, where it has screens running Sky News in and around rail stations. In Chicago, it is rolling out screens on transit platforms, which offer similar ad opportunities to the MTA test.

Earlier this year, Titan unveiled digital ads on New York City bus sides with full motion. Plans call for the signs to be on 75 buses over the next few months.