• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 8, 2008

Don't use the word "exploding," but place-based video at gas stations is growing fast. A series of new deals is bringing TV content to video screens installed in gas pumps and in-store displays. The latest allows PumpTop TV, one of a handful of competitors in gas-station media, to broadcast ABC News content.

The news feature, produced by ABC News Now, a 24-hour digital cable network, will be integrated into PumpTop's five-minute program, which is slightly longer than the average three-minute duration of a gas pump visit. PumpTop's cycling program also includes sports, entertainment, weather, and traffic updates.

PumpTop TV is currently available at more than 2,500 screens in gas stations around Los Angeles and San Diego, and is poised to expand to San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston over the next year.

As with other place-based video deals, the agreement serves both parties. While PumpTop gets professional content from a well-known source, ABC increases its reach by broadening its distribution platforms. In fact, all three broadcast networks have embraced place-based video partnerships as a way to reach increasingly elusive and distracted consumers. The place-based networks frequently offer advertisers the enticement of a captive audience near a point of purchase.

In mid-December, CBS announced a deal to provide content to Gas Station TV, which currently operates about 5,000 such displays in 300 cities around the country. GSTV also gets content from ESPN, a sister company of ABC owned by Disney. NBC is providing content to the FuelCast Network.

In the broader place-based video market, CBS is providing content to Healium, a video network serving waiting rooms in doctors' offices, and has struck deals with American Airlines, Royal Caribbean, Starwood Hotels, Indoor Direct, Mall of America, Simon Malls and Ripple TV. It also purchased SignStorey, an in-store video network that has been rebranded the "CBS Outernet."

Similarly, NBC has partnered with Channel One, an in-school video network that delivers a 12-minute news broadcast; Premier Retail Networks' "Supermarket Checkout TV," at more than 1,000 stores; and Clear Channel Taxi Media in New York City. A third deal is in the works to display NBCU content, including ads, on PATH commuter trains running between New York and New Jersey.

A recent report from eMarketer predicted that total ad revenue for place-based video networks will top $2.25 billion by 2011.