• International Herald Tribune, Monday, August 14, 2006 10:45 AM

The London Underground may not win many points for ambience, but it does offer a respite from the intrusions of modern technology, writes Eric Pfanner in the International Herald Tribune. He notes that cell phones and BlackBerries don't work, so passengers have had to rely on print media for distraction. But not for long: The digital era is burrowing in as Viacom Outdoor readies a big deployment of video in the Tube, ponying up $136 million to install 2,200 screens in the subway network. They will be placed near escalators, hallways, and other high-traffic areas--and starting next year, the company will roll out devices that can project billboard-size moving video onto the curved walls. And Viacom expects to sell more than $1.9 billion worth of ads on them over the next decade. These kinds of investments are justified, industry watchers say, because billboards--digital or still--can reach mass audiences even as other media splinter. The Underground video screens will be seen annually by 335 million sets of eyes--equal to running a commercial during every episode of one of Britain's most popular television shows, for a year, says Tim Bleakley, managing director of Viacom Outdoor in Britain. "The screen remains the most powerful advertising medium," he says. "But you can't just put them in the home, because lifestyles have changed."

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