• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 6, 2008

Call it bar-casting. Whatever the name, bars are increasingly popular venues for place-based video networks, which tout the relaxed, convivial atmosphere and high engagement with surroundings as an efficient way to reach young people with disposable income, an advertisers' dream date.

On Tuesday, I-am TV announced it is expanding its network of video displays in sports and neighborhood bars to cover a total of 500 businesses by summer 2008. When the expansion is complete, I-am TV's network will include installations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Denver and San Francisco. The network forecasts delivery of 38 million impressions a month, with an average dwell time of 2.5 hours. Currently, it operates 1,200 digital screens in 280 establishments.

I-am TV is just one of a number of players of various sizes in the bar-casting biz. Another major bar-caster, Ecast, operates a wide network reaching 10,000 bars and nightclubs. Ecast installations are essentially interactive jukeboxes with a digital display, which allow bar patrons to choose music and view marketing messages, including text and images delivered during the song, and audio messages after the song is over.

Ecast's competitor, TouchTunes, operates a network of 30,000 interactive jukeboxes in bars and clubs around the country, playing 1.4 million songs per day.

SeeSaw Networks operates a digital network in sports bars, including kiosks, that allow users to play fantasy-sports games, along with 42-inch plasma screens that display results and advertising. SeeSaw sells advertising for the sports bar network through its BrandItTV division.

Recently, researchers have described a number of special attributes of bars that make them attractive venues for marketing.

Last year, Arbitron released a study which found that 50% of American adults over the age of 21 had visited a bar within the last month--about 105 million people. Moreover, 31%--or 65 million people--had been to a bar in the last week.

According to Arbitron, they include a higher percentage of self-described "early adopters" than the population at large. Some 27% of monthly bar-goers consider themselves "early adopters," versus 18% generally--while 26% say they frequently recommend new products to friends, compared to 19% overall.