• by Erik Sass , November 3, 2009

One of the nation's largest convenience store chains is throwing its hat in the digital out-of-home video ring. 7-Eleven will create a digital network for more than 6,200 stores in the U.S. and Canada, eventually reaching a total 190 million viewers per month when deployment is complete in the fourth quarter of 2010.

In terms of reach, that will put it in the same ballpark as the big TV nets, which reach 155 million to 300 million viewers per month.

The 24-hour-a-day network, created in partnership with Digital Display Networks, will consist of two hi-def LCD monitors in each 7-Eleven store. It will feature national, local and entertainment news, as well as weather and some exclusive content produced by DDN.

On the advertising front, it will feature ads from in-store brands and 7-Eleven's own proprietary brands, as well as outside advertisers. Programming and advertising will be divided into dayparts to allow more precise targeting of customers; DDN is also handling ad sales.

Convenience stores figure prominently in recent DO deals, as one of the more popular venues for the burgeoning medium. In October 2008, Fuelcast, a network serving gas stations, merged with Bhootan, a network operating 500 screens at retail locations such as Walgreens, Sears, Kmart, Albertsons and Stop N' Shop, to form a new company called Outcast.

In February 2008, Transworld Media began expanding a DO network serving 100 Dallas-area convenience stores to include over 1,100 additional locations in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. Also that month, the CBS Outernet expanded to include thousands of pharmacies through a partnership with Lifeclinic International, which operates kiosks that monitor vital signs in more than 25,000 pharmacies around the country.

Gas Station TV began expanding its network in 2007 to include video displays in convenience stores attached to gas stations. And in 2006 Duane Reade, a New York City pharmacy chain, got a place-based video network courtesy of the In-Store Broadcasting Network.