• by Jonathan Blum , March 15, 2006

If you're looking for an untapped out-of-home media market, how about drivers? Liquid-crystal display TV screens are finding their way into rearview mirrors in cars. The rectangular screens can be easily clipped onto existing mirrors and retrofitted to work with in-car entertainment systems.

In-mirror monitors have been on the market for a few years as navigation aids, but they are quietly moving into general-purpose viewing.

"We built them for navigation and rear assistance," says Michael Blanes, national sales manager at Savv Corp., a Cerritos, Calif.-based provider of mobile multimedia products. "But there are two video feeds in the units, and people are using them as they like."

Since laws prohibit live video feeds in front seats of most vehicles when they're in gear, many media systems automatically shut off when vehicles are in motion. But tech companies are finding workaround solutions, and in-mirror screens will soon be able to carry live programming. Mobile broadcast TV antennas are readily available. RaySat and TracVision offer in-car satellite TV systems starting at $1,000.

With Sirius Satellite Radio planning new channels of video content for children in 2007, parallel parking is about to get a lot more entertaining.