• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 20, 2010

A new digital out-of-home network incorporating 3D displays (which don't require glasses) is planned to reach up to 7,000 convenience stores, including gas-station retail venues, courtesy of Public Media Works and its subsidiary, EntertainmentXpress, in partnership with Modular Conversions.

The first phase will bring the EntertainmentXpress kiosks to 1,500 retail locations on the West Coast under agreements with various gas station chain owners, which will also provide some of the financing. The team may allocate up to $154 million to finance the full build-out of 7,000 kiosks nationwide.

The EntertainmentXpress network stands at the intersection of two trends, benefiting from the surge of interest in digital out-of-home advertising, as well as the wave of new 3D display technologies, which have received a great deal of publicity from Hollywood blockbusters like "Avatar."

Gas stations, in particular, have emerged as one of the hot new venues for DO networks, including displays in co-located convenience stores. The arena has already attracted a number of players, including Pumptop TV, Gas Station TV (which reaches gas station convenience stores through C-Store TV) and Outcast, formed by the merger of Fuelcast and Bhootan, a convenience store network.

Overall, PQ Media predicts that total ad spending on DO networks will jump from $2.47 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion in 2014, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.4%.