• In Chicago, Convenience Rather Than Cold
    Two of the sweet spots for digital out-of-home advertising are convenience and distraction -- using technology to make a tedious or unpleasant situation shorter in duration, or at least less tedious and unpleasant. One good example comes from Chicago, where the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood has received a new network of 13 digital signs, installed and operated by RedPost in coffee shops, book stores, and similar establishments, which display the arrival times of Chicago Transit Authority buses approaching nearby stops. Four more signs will be installed in coming months.
  • 'Outside' Goes Digital Out-of-Home
    Last week brought another example of a print brand expanding into digital out-of-home video: Outside magazine, published by Mariah Media Inc., is partnering with the Resort Sports Network to create a new DO network reaching guests at resort destinations around the country. The Outside Television Network is effectively taking over RSN, which will be completely rebranded
  • Life Imitating Art, Augmenting Life
    Since this is the time of year when columnists tend to wax about the future, let me share some of my most recent thinking about where the digital out-of-home media business is headed -- both near-term, as well as long. To do that, let me start off by quoting someone from the future: "Space, the final frontier." Okay, so it's actually a fictitious character from the future, and you probably don't have to be a Trekkie to know that line comes from "Star Trek" Captain James T. Kirk's log, but there's a reason why I'm invoking it now.
  • Study: DO Billboards Are Safe, Really
    A new study from Tantala Associates, commissioned by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, hammers home the point that digital billboards are not correlated with traffic accidents. This finding provides additional ammunition to billboard owners trying to persuade local governments and community organizations that the eye-catching displays are safe.
  • Mall Media Move On Measurement
    With the end of the recession (maybe) in sight, retail establishments are hoping for a boost in sales -- or at the very least, a bump in visitors. Hoping to cash in on the new foot traffic, two leading digital out-of-home networks with significant mall presences have rolled out new measurement initiatives.
  • Cars Go To The Movies, Movies Come To Cars
    It's been a very cinematically automotive week in the world of digital out-of-home video content, with two new deals bringing NASCAR content to movie theaters and movie content to gas stations.
  • DO Takes To The Skies
    Digital out-of-home video content and advertising is taking flight, literally, with new deals for ad sales representation and in-flight, ad-supported WiFi on two major airlines. Along with extensions of DO-enabled food service in airports, the new deals represent a trend towards DO linked with consumer services in the air travel environment.
  • Digital Outsider: It's All About NYC
    Surveying the proliferation of digital signage around New York last week, one could be forgiven for thinking the city had been colonized by visitors from the planet Doohv. Actually it was just Clear Channel Outdoor, for the most part, and they're not just visiting.
  • Tee Time: EDR Acquires Golf Network
    Digital out-of-home video targeting sports enthusiasts is one of the fastest growing sub-segments of the burgeoning medium, as reflected by the proliferation of networks, prompting some industry watchers to say this particular area is ripe for consolidation. This week brought some evidence of a trend towards consolidation, with the acquisition of the Golf Network -- an in-store video network serving golf equipment retailers -- by EDR Media, which simultaneously announced the formation of a new Sports Retail Network.
  • It All Happened In August (And Early September)
    If you were on vacation in August, and weren't obsessively checking the news on your BlackBerry, you may have missed one of the busiest periods in the digital out-of-home video industry's short history. In fact, while late summer 2009 saw the first faint glimmers of a broader economic recovery, it may also be remembered as the beginning of a DO renaissance -- and all while you were curling your toes in the sand. Here's a quick roundup of what went down, in reverse order.
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