• by Erik Sass , April 2, 2007

Clear Channel Outdoor is extending its digital billboard network to four new markets, the company announced today, bringing high-tech billboards to Akron and Columbus, Ohio; Memphis, Tennessee; and Wichita, Kansas. All four cities are located on or near major interstate highways, which are crucial for reaching a large commuter audience. The additions bring Clear Channel's network of digital billboard markets to 10.

Digital billboards are an important growth area for the outdoor industry, which has enjoyed a boom in recent years, with 8% revenue growth in 2006 to $6.8 billion, compared to 2005. Digital displays boost revenue by allowing owners to display multiple ad messages, charging different rates for different "day parts" corresponding to heavy and light commuting periods. Clear Channel Outdoor's digital networks are scheduled to display about 1,250 static ads a day, rotating every eight seconds. While its a lucrative division, financial details were not disclosed.

Memphis is getting five 14-by-48 foot digital billboards, Akron six of the same size, and Wichita and Columbus six each of the 12-by-24 foot poster-sized digital displays.

Paul Meyer, global president of Clear Channel Outdoor, remarked that "the addition of these four networks has us well on the way to reaching our goal of at least 100 new networked digital billboards in approximately 20 markets by the end of 2007." Meyer also noted digital billboards' utility for emergency public messaging, which can include weather advisories and "Amber Alerts" for kidnapped children, saying they "provide an invaluable emergency messaging system to the communities in which we do business."

Nonetheless, some competitors have run into resistance from municipal authorities concerned that the changing displays on digital billboards, as well as animation featured in some ads, raise the risk of traffic accidents by distracting drivers. In the second half of 2006, various city governments began instituting temporary freezes on digital signage.

Among the cities that have enacted bans are Atlanta, Concord, NH, St. Paul, Minn., and Des Moines, Iowa--all located on or near major Interstate highways with heavy commuter traffic. To date, about 400 electronic billboards have been erected around the United States, at an average cost of $500,000 per unit.

Unfazed, Clear Channel Outdoor is pressing ahead with one of the most ambitious digital outdoor ad initiatives ever conceived: a pre-planned "city center" for Westgate, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. To be built and operated by Clear Channel Spectacolor, a high-tech division of Clear Channel Outdoor specializing in electronic signage, Westgate's planned "downtown" will include 30 signs of various sizes, including some that are 100 feet tall--as tall as an eight-story building. Animated and electronic signage will be heavily featured.

With an overall estimated cost of $850 million, developers hope the Westgate City Center will eventually attract up to 22 million visitors a year, with 6.5 million square feet of retail space, as well as an 18,000-seat sports arena, movie theaters, dining, offices, hotels and residential space. The central hub--consisting of the sports arena, the Clear Channel signs, and about 500,000 square feet of retail and loft space--is scheduled for completion this fall.