Clear Channel Outdoor to deploy Taxi Entertainment Network to 5,000 NY cabs

Numerous sources are covering this story, but the best link I've found is from the San Antonio Business Journal:

Through a content-sharing agreement between Clear Channel Taxi Media and NBC Universal, some 5,000 taxis will air NY10, New York's Taxi Entertainment Network. The channel will air exclusive content from WNBC, NBC News and NBC Entertainment.

It will roll out during the first half of 2007 as part of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission's recent announcement to install passenger information monitors in New York cabs.

Clear Channel Taxi Media, which is owned by Clear Channel Outdoor, will sell advertisements on the network. NY10 should provide a new avenue to reach more than 14 million New York consumers each month, according to Charlie DiToro, chief operating officer for Clear Channel Taxi Media.

NY10 will air news, weather, sports and entertainment on LCD screens installed in the back seats of cabs. The screens also will give passengers the ability to track the route of their trip and pay their fare by credit or debit card.

So aside from possibly watching some interesting news and weather info, it seems that Clear Channel is hoping to make the network more useful by letting passengers also use the terminals to pay their fare via credit or debit card, which is pretty clever. While taxi networks are nothing new (they've had one in Las Vegas for years now), New York has been hesitant to get involved, with a number of companies piloting and then abandoning taxi-based kiosk and digital signage networks over the past few years.

Tags: digital signage, Clear Channel Outdoor, out-of-home advertising, Taxi Entertainment Network, NY10