/ 02.24.2011 12:00AM
Harris Broadcast Scores $75 Million 7-11 HDTV Contract
MELBOURNE, FLA., SANTA MONICA, CALIF., and DALLAS:
Harris Broadcast has won a $75 million contract
to outfit 7-11 stores with their own high-definition network. Harris, in
partnership with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Digital Display Networks, is
building the network out to the chain’s 6,200 stores. It will represent the
fourth largest “broadcast TV network when fully deployed,” Harris said, citing
Nielsen data. It’s expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Harris is providing the network backbone through a 10-year agreement “valued
at $75 million, with additional revenue-sharing potential,” the vendor
said. The digital out-of-home network will ride on Harris InfoCaster digital
signage system and its Punctuate traffic software. Harris said its software can
“manage 40,000 playlists, national and local ads, and all the software
supporting transactions on a network.”
DDN, provider of the largest digital information TV network in hotels, is
contributing turnkey services that include content production and ad sales. The
network will eventually reach an estimated 190 million viewers a month, DDN
estimates.
DDN launched a pilot version of the network last year to 500 select
high-traffic stores that included those in New York, Los
Angeles and Chicago. Programming is around-the-clock, with national
and local entertainment news and weather, as well as ads for proprietary and
signature 7-11 brands. Programming is further divided into day-parts to best
promote “specific items when the are most relevant to customers,” DDN said.
Each store is being outfitted with two hi-def LCD monitors with “directional
audio” targeting people standing in front of them. Darren Mann, CEO of DDN
said the 7-11 net will have the ability to “generate some 2.3 billion consumer
impressions annually,” making it comparable to a national network, though in an
environment where people can immediately buy what they see on TV.
Digital-out-of-home, or DOOH advertising, is estimated to have exceeded $35
billion in 2009, expected to grow by double digits through this year, according
to PQ Media of Stamford, Conn. (Figures cited by DDN.)
In addition to providing the backbone, Harris is supporting 7-Eleven TV with 24/7
monitoring, data hosting and support via dedicated Network Operations Centers
in Dallas, Texas--where 7-11 is headquartered--and Harris’ home town,
Melbourne, Fla. Harris said it provides similar services for McDonalds, for the
Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., and for two international resorts among others.
-- DMcA