News

Clear Channel launching new digital billboards

November 19, 2006

PHOENIX — Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. announced new digital billboard launches in the cities of Milwaukee and Tampa, furthering its goal of adding digital billboard networks in all of its major U.S. markets.

"Our goal for 2006 was to deploy fully networked, digital signage products in four to six markets, and by year's end we will successfully reach the upper end of that goal," said Paul Meyer, global president of Clear Channel Outdoor. "New digital technologies provide us with the capability to execute both general market and targeted advertising campaigns that consumers can't mute, fast forward or erase. Outdoor's digital conversion is slowly but surely transforming the industry into the most flexible and responsive of all advertising platforms."

In Milwaukee the company has converted six large format bulletins into a digital network that provides broad general market coverage reaching almost 600,000 Milwaukeeans every day. Tampa has converted the first three locations of what is expected to be a nine-bulletin network that will also provide general market coverage in that city. Like the company's existing digital networks, these too will allow advertising copy to be changed remotely as often as advertisers' needs dictate. Advertising messages will run in a continuous loop, enabling each message to be displayed on each sign in the network multiple times each day, and in the case of Tampa, a minimum of 1,250 times at each location during every 24 hours. Both markets are running public service messages during most of the remainder of November prior to taking paid commercial advertising.

Similar digital billboard networks were launched in Las Vegas, Albuquerque and London, England earlier this year. The company's first digital network debuted in Cleveland last year. Next year it plans to add digital networks in both Cleveland and Las Vegas.