Clear Channel electronic billboards get hacked UPDATE: no they didn't, maybe

According to Engadget, via textually.org, an 18 year old grafitti artist known as Skullphone has hacked about 10 digital billboards in Southern California to insert his artwork into the screens' ad loops.

Clear Channel's definitely going to need to learn about security -- quick -- if they plan on (a) making a serious attempt in this market and (b) not getting fined (or worse) the first time somebody decides to be a bit less innocuous and delete the firm's entire playlist in favor of some select clips from a favored porn site.

[UPDATE]: According to new "news" (I have to put it in quotes when the source is a semi-anonymous tip to a gadget blog), there was no hacking and in fact "Skullphone" paid Clear Channel for the placements as a one-day promotion of... something. That, and there are unicorns living on the moon, Elvis was seen driving on I-40 with Jimmy Hoffa, and Chuck Norris's tears do in fact cure cancer. Ok, I can't confirm that last part, however I do know that if I were Clear Channel and my massively expensive digital screens were hacked, I might well be inclined to lie about it. I'm not saying that they did -- it's admittedly more likely that somebody paid them to do this -- but if they were hacked... well... I'll just leave it at that.

Tags: digital billboards, clear channel, skullphone

LA Times tries out 8-second spots on roadside billboards

These are heady days indeed for the digital billboard market. Even AdAge is jumping in with some news to report:

Los Angelenos plagued by traffic delays or seeking a productive roadside distraction will be able to catch exclusive news via 10 digital billboards placed across the city by Clear Channel Outdoor. The Los Angeles Times is the first newspaper to use the company's digital billboards and web-based interface for news alerts and branding.

The editorial content will be comprised of mostly regional sports, politics and entertainment stories, as well as promotions for local events the paper hosts annually, like next month's Festival of Books. "You're not likely to see a story about some breaking news that happened in Iraq. We're definitely focused more on signature pieces, content elements, blogs, columnists, stories, products and events that are unique to us," Mr. O'Laughlin said.

An eight-second spot will be displayed on the 10 boards [in the L.A. area] 70,910 times per week, reaching a combined total of 455,300 people per day, according to audited Daily Effective Circulation estimates. Mr. O'Laughlin said the company will be working with Clear Channel over the next 10 weeks to evaluate results and determine return on investment, before tweaking the boards at the end of May to update them for the Olympics and, later, the elections in the fall.

We've seen lots of reports about using the digital signs to display Amber Alerts and accident-related news, but this is the first time I think I've seen the screens used to display editorial content, even if it is a not-too-subtle attempt by the LA Times to re-state their relevancy in an age when print newspaper readership is in a death spiral. It's certainly an interesting idea, and if the results prove favorable, I expect to see lots of regional players adopt a similar plan.

Tags: digital billboards, electronic billboards, out-of-home advertising

Digital billboards get 2 thumbs up

On the heels of the Inc. article we mentioned yesterday comes some good news (for OOH advertisers, anyway) about the effectiveness of electronic billboards: they work, well. To begin with, MediaPost tells us that Arbitron just released the results of a study which concluded that:

• 80% of travelers said they think the billboards provide an important community service (such as Amber Alerts)
• 83% of viewers saying they recalled at least one out of nine advertisements in the test group
• 65% saying they recalled two
• 20% said they were motivated to visit a featured store after seeing an ad on a digital billboard
• 15% said they would visit a featured restaurant
• Roughly 90% of motorists said they paid attention to digital billboard ads at least some of the time (I'd like to think they were paying attention to the road the rest of the time, but they were probably talking on the phone, sending txt messages, ironing, etc.)
  

Additionally, another Arbitron study found that digital billboards actually benefit other media too, in one of those rare 1+1=3 situations. Specifically, "thirty-five percent of respondents were
reminded of a local radio station, and 28% noted a TV show to watch
because of digital billboard ads."

Tags: digital billboards, electronic billboards, out-of-home advertising

Paris is burning!

... or, I guess, crashing. And not the real city, either, just the big hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip. Not much to say here, just some fun pics (courtesy of The Daily WTF).

Tags: digital signage, electronic billboards, digital billboards

The battle over electronic billboard regulations continues

MediaBuyerPlanner has a as a nice and concise overview of the current round of regulations and legislation that has cropped up to handle the growing popularity of electronic billboards. Worth a read for anybody thinking of getting started in that side of the biz, or even for those folks who have (or manage) existing static billboards and are pondering the jump to digital.

The bottom line: the Feds aren't going to help you here, though they're unlikely to cause harm either. And even if the states to pass encompassing legislation that permits the use of roadside electronic displays, local municipalities will always have the ability to put the kibosh on digital billboard projects in their neighborhoods that don't meet their approval.

Tags: digital billboards, electronic billboards, digital signage

Clear Channel expanding their electronic billboard network

MediaPost notes that Clear Channel continues to expand their outdoor billboard network, installing digital billboards in four new markets: Akron and Columbus, Ohio, Memphis, Tennessee and Wichita, Kansas. This builds upon Clear Channel's existing installed base of six markets, which was their stated goal for the end of 2006. The additions bring Clear Channel's network to a total of 10 markets, all of which are near major, high-traffic road ways that can deliver the number of impressions needed to make the signs worthwhile. The company's new goal is to reach at least 100 digital billboards in approximately 20 markets by the end of 2007, suggesting that the screens to have a positive ROI in a pretty reasonable time frame since they're deploying more of them.

Given that the screens have cost an average of $500K apiece to purchase and install, the firm expects to spend at least $50 M in the immediate future to solidify their position as a leader in outdoor electronic billboards. Amazingly, they even plan to use the roadside displays as something of a tourist attraction at at least one location, in what's being described as one of the, "most ambitious digital outdoor ad initiatives ever conceived" by MediaPost. A signage network in the downtown area of the pre-planned "city center" at Westgate, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, will be built and operated by Clear Channel Spectacolor, and will include 30 electronic signs of various sizes, including some that are 100 feet tall.

I guess we'll soon get to see if it really is possible to build a new Times Square in an arbitrary location and have it become an advertising mecca. Somehow I don't think that the folks in the Phoenix suburbs really understand what they're getting into from that end of the deal, but the Westgate facility is expected to generate a considerable amount of tourist shopping thanks to its half million square feet of retail space and sports arena.

Tags: Clear Channel, electronic billboards, digital billboards

Are roadside electronic billboards dangerous?

Hot on the heels of the last two articles, which focused on interesting things happening in the roadside digital billboard market, comes this piece from Media Buyer Planner, suggesting that might not be such a great thing:

While there are currently only about 400 digital billboards across the country, there may be as many as 4,000 within 10 years, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, writes The New York Times.

Deanna Singhal, research associate at the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, a driving safety group in Ottawa, believes that not only do digital billboards keep drivers' eyes away from the road more, but that they are also more "cognitively demanding."

A study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration has recommended more research into whether the signs present risks to drivers, and the federal government has also allotted $150,000 for a study of digital signage.

While we may not know yet whether electronic signs can affect driving performance, hopefully the federally-funded study will put the issue to rest. And unlike corporate-funded research, we can expect that the FHA report will be released to the public so that we can all benefit from it.

[UPDATE 2007-01-07]: The figure above was downgraded from 75,000 electronic billboards in the next 10 years to only 4,000, which is interesting because it contradicts a recent iSuppli survey on digital billboards. While I'm more inclined to believe the 4,000 number predicted by OAAA, it's quite odd to see such a large difference.

Tags: electronic billboards, digital billboards, out-of-home advertising

iSuppli says: Digital billboards set to take 15% share by 2010

It looks as if the digital billboard market is finally starting to come together. Just a few days ago Clear Channel Outdoor announced that they had deployed their sixth market of electronic road-side billboards, and now market research firm iSuppli suggests that it's only the beginning:

By 2010, 75,000 billboards, or 15% of total billboards in the U.S., will be digital displays, up from a mere 500 digital billboards in 2006, according to iSuppli. Digital signage is another vehicle for advertisers to reach out to their customers in the $500 billion global advertising market.

iSuppli provides a quick back-of-the-envelope model on how big this market is going to be. Based on its 2010 estimate, the 75,000 potential digital billboards will be using an average of 325,000 LEDs; that would require 40,625 LED drivers for each of the 75,000 digital billboards. That would mean a cost of $16,250 per digital billboard or $1.22 billion for the 75,000 digital billboards in 2010, a big growth opportunity for both semiconductor suppliers and manufacturers of display technology.

iSuppli estimates that on average it only takes 6 to 10 months for the owner of a large digital sign to see an ROI.

Only 6-10 months? That kind of ROI is amazing, though given the current capital costs involved with setting up a network, electronic billboards still aren't for the faint of heart.

Tags: electronic billboards, out-of-home advertising, digital billboards

Clear Channel brings electronic billboards to Minneapolis/St. Paul

According to MediaPost, newly-privatized Clear Channel has expanded their outdoor electronic billboard project into Minneapolis, which marks the 6th market that they now provide the devices in (previously we noted that they were expanding the network into Tampa, Florida, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin). In total, the Minneapolis/St. Paul screens join those in Cleveland, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Milwaukee, Tampa, and London, England, meeting Clear Channel's previously-stated goal of launching 4-6 digital billboard networks by the end of 2006.

At this point, it will be interesting to watch whether they will continue to expand their network continuously, or if we'll see a dropoff in new installations while they test out their business models for ad sales. On the one hand, Clear Channel probably already has a good idea of whether the screens will be profitable (and how quickly they'll get there), so it might be best to continue with the expansion. On the other, though, they already own much of the best billboard real estate (currently populated by static billboards, of course), so they might not feel much pressure to continue with costly installations while they're still tinkering with the model.

Tags: Clear Channel, electronic billboards, digital billboards, outdoor advertising

Clear Channel invests in outdoor digital signage

According to this article at Media Post (free subscription required):

CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR IS EXPANDING its digital signage network with a number of new installations in the cities of Tampa, Florida, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company announced today. In Tampa, three new digital billboards are going live ahead of a planned total of nine for that city's network. In Milwaukee, Clear Channel is bowing six new digital signs.

Measuring 14 by 48 feet, the new signs are standard LED billboards capable of displaying multiple messages, and all are located near heavily trafficked roadways. Segmenting commuter traffic into "day parts" could allow Clear Channel to charge a premium for periods that see heavy commuter traffic--a strategy that Randall Mays, the president and CEO of parent company Clear Channel Communications, has described in public statements.

We typically prefer to call these large outdoor displays digital billboards or electronic billboards, reserving digital signage for smaller indoor applications, but perhaps that's just because of our particular focus on the market.  The article also notes that aside from promoting the viability of the business model Clear Channel is also looking carefully at the technology powering it (unlike traditional media, who, as Paul Meyer, the CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor's global operations says, tend to view tech more as foe than friend).

[ UPDATE 11/16/2006 ] ClearChannel was just purchased by a couple of private equity firms, probably because they want to try some things (perhaps digital signage included) that could have enormous long-term gains, but stock price-killing short-term costs.

Past articles about Clear Channel include:
Clear Channel Outdoor tries out digital billboards in Albuquerque
ClearChannel to try out mall digital signage
Manhattan digital signage network shows sponsored artwork

Tags: Clear Channel, digital signage, electronic billboards, digital billboards, outdoor advertising