• by Paul Gough , July 2, 2004

Three months after being purchased by Gannett, Captivate Network is putting the finishing touches on a growth program that will double the number of screens it's seen on nationwide, and put it in the top 20 DMAs by 2005.

Captivate broadcasts programming and advertising to 4,500 elevator screens in the United States and Canada, garnering about 30 million impressions monthly. They're seen in big markets like New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto.

The expansion plans announced this morning will bring it to 4,000 screens in eight more markets, including Denver, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Hartford, Conn. Captivate hopes to reach 3 million people daily, according to the company.

In order to speed adoption, Captivate is also changing its pricing. Instead of charging office buildings to install the network and screens in its elevators, there's now a monthly fee to use the service. The monthly fee hasn't been determined yet, but Captivate hopes that it will make it easier for buildings to offer the service.

Content providers include CNN, The Weather Channel, and Entertainment Weekly, as well as local and national news and sports.

Captivate touts its 45 percent ad recall as a result of an early 2002 study by Nielsen Media Research. It says Captivate's viewers spend about six minutes a day riding the elevator, and 96 percent watch the network.

Its advertisers include British Airways, Amtrak, SBC, IBM, Verizon, and Mercedes Benz, among others. They not only offer full-motion video, but can also sponsor programming. The pitch is that the audience --not necessarily at work but on their way--can be reached during the business day while they're making buying decisions and in a distraction-free environment.