Heli-D launched its flying digital video billboard over New York City earlier this week, marking the company's entry into the U.S. market.  

The company flew its giant LED screen twice over Manhattan—first during the DPAA Global Video Everywhere Summit (Oct.13) and later that evening to promote content from Byron Allen's Allen Media Group.  

The afternoon flight traveled along the Hudson River from New Jersey past Chelsea Piers and the Statue of Liberty, giving conference attendees and the public a demonstration of the technology. It featured content from DPAA and The Ad Council. 

The evening flight highlighted a new partnership between Heli-D and Allen Media Group. 

Heli-D says its digital screen offers advertisers a new type of digital out-of-home media by taking large video displays into the sky instead of placing them on buildings or roadside billboards. In addition to advertising, the company pitches the technology for public service campaigns, events and other promotions. 

The flying billboard, from Australia’s Remarkable Media Group, features a massive carbon-fiber, double-sided LED screen (over 400 square feet) suspended as an external load beneath a helicopter. 

The screen itself does not emit audio, but Heli-D partners with platforms like Blue Bite to deploy a technique called digital shadow-fencing so that mobile devices within this fenced area are retargeted with synchronized sound.  

Heli-D already operates in the UAE and Australia and says it has worked with brands including Microsoft, Netflix and TAB. Further expansion in the US will follow this week’s debut in New York.