CBS Outdoor to install 100 plasma screens at Mall of America

Incoming news from Media Buyer/Planner and Mediaweek indicate that CBS Outdoor is planning a rollout of 100 digital signs at the Mall of America, the nation's largest shopping mall. From the article:

The 10-year agreement, which begins March 1, calls for CBS to install 100, 42-inch screens in 25 different locations throughout the 4.2 million square-foot complex.

The screens will reach more than 40 million visitors each year. “Very rarely do you get access to a captive audience of millions of shoppers, which is the ideal audience for the mall’s 500-plus stores, as well as the products and brands being sold in those outlets,” said Larry Levine, president of outdoor displays for CBS Outdoor.

The most interesting part to me is the 10-year agreement, which is quite long even in the retail world, where 5 or 7-year vendor/supplier agreements are somewhat commonplace. While CBS Outdoor has worked in cooperation with other network owners and managers in the past, this is the first network that I'm aware of where they're leading the project (and in fact right now, they're the only party named). Of course, CBS Outdoor isn't new to mall signage. They deploy and manage thousands of static posters and POP displays at about a hundred malls across the country today.

So I guess the question is, where will CBS Outdoor (and their parent) go from here? Will this be a one-off deal, or is CBS testing the waters in preparation for a much larger expansion plan? They certainly have the wherewithal and the venue and advertiser base to start an enormous mall-based network that would dwarf AdSpace and rival the OnSpot Publicis/Simon partnership's efforts to date.

Tags: digital signage, out-of-home advertising, CBS Outdoor, Mall of America