• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 28, 2012

As initially reported in Digital Outsideron September 21, Beantown commuters will be treated to a spectacular digital out-of-home experience beginning in January, when two digital screens, both measuring 17.7 feet wide and 10 feet tall, go live on the concourse at Boston’s busy South Station -- the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s largest train station and intercity bus terminal, and a main stop on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

The wicked-huge digital signs are being manufactured and installed by Daktronics for Blue Outdoor, which will operate the signage, including handling advertising sales, and are projected to reach over four million visitors per month. The hanging displays, located on either side of the concourse, will also have audio capabilities thanks to focused directional speakers.

The South Station already hosts a lively outdoor advertising environment, with over 70 static advertising faces (also controlled by Blue Outdoor) enabling sweeping station-domination campaigns. The list of advertisers who have already executed campaigns at South Station includes Apple, JetBlue, Merrill Lynch, Samsung, Stella Artois, Maker’s Mark, Pepsi, Tropicana, and Mohegan Sun.

The MBTA is one of the busiest mass transit networks in the country: total ridership reached a record 400 million in the fiscal year 2012, up from 390 million in fiscal 2011.

Daktronics has created a number of noteworthy digital signs in high-traffic urban areas, including the iconic “Simply Coke” sign (sometimes described as an “electro-kinetic sculpture”) installed in New York City’s Time Square as part of its centennial celebrations in 2004. For its part, Blue Outdoor controls over 7,000 ad faces in 26 states, including 105 digital screens, which altogether generate over 900 million impressions per year.