Television Everywhere: Venue Video

[Josh] I was struck by two briefings we got this week from people who want to bring the television to wherever you might be waiting around.

So, these brilliant folks have asked: where do people have to wait around with nothing to do but look at television? I'm calling this phenomenon "Venue Video." Here are two interesting examples:

Venue No. 1: The gas pump. Gas Station TV has made a deal with Wal-Mart's gasoline supplier, Murphy USA, to put 20-inch TV screens on self-service gas pumps. The CEO David Leider told us that the average person pumping gas spends 4 1/2 minutes standing there, so why not show them content from ABC, local news, local ads, and come-ons to get a hot-dog in the convenience store. Interestingly, this is true IP-delivered on-demand TV -- the ads and content are customized for each station and delivered off a server based on time of day, location, and other variables.

Venue No. 2: Outdoor events. Big Moving Pictures brings huge 30-foot TV screens to events like air shows and entertaintains the people waiting around for stuff to happen. They're still lining up more sponsors but they have the potential to hit thousands -- heck, hundreds of thousands -- of bored people. Those big screens cost more than a million bucks, though, so they better ramp up the ad sales on this project to get into the black.

These are not the only people targeting the same opportunity. Captivate Network got acquired by Gannett based on their successful effort to capture people's attention in elevators. And PRN targets people waiting in line and shopping in stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

The interesting thing these companies have all figured out is this: (1) You need content, not just advertising, to make this work -- people will watch ads only if they've got content alongside, and (2) the locations -- stores, events, gas stations, elevators -- will often allow this video on their sites for free or for cheap if it's perceived as benefitting the consumers, not just bombarding them with ads like a video billboard.

I couldn't resist noting that the time may be right to reconsider the last unexploited venue: the wall in front of the urinal (I know, the last peaceful spot -- maybe it needs to be quiet, like Captivate's elevator video). It's the one place where you can be sure to hit that coveted male audience that the NFL, ESPN, and SpikeTV are always promising.

Go ahead, deliver it over broadband pipes and proudly call it what it ought to be called: "I Pee TV."

Technorati tags: Bernoff, Forrester, Gas Station TV, Big Moving Pictures, Captivate, venue video, I Pee TV, IPTV

POSTSCRIPT: Dan Anderson from Waggener Edstrom points out there's already TV in the bathrooms at ESPN Zone. Here's a picture he found (from the-crib.net):

Comments

[Tara]

Besides urinals, in the ladies room at the ESPN Zone in New York there are TVs on the cielings of the stalls, but not for simply advertising purposes, instead it allows for continual watching of the games playing in the bar. It's a sight to behold; i've even sent a girl friend in to look at it the last time we ate there.

PS: Thanks Ted for the great presentation at The Horn Group conference the other day