Digital screens key to TfL outdoor deal

by Juliette Garside, Media Week 28-Feb-06

Transport for London is reducing its £100m a year outdoor contract on London Underground from 10 years to either eight and a half or six and a half years and will make the rollout of digital screens key to next month's award of a new contract.

The remaining contenders for the contract, JCDecaux and incumbent Viacom
Outdoor, are expected to put in their best and final offers next week.
TfL marketing director Chris Townsend is keen to see digital screens,

which Viacom has introduced at Tottenham Court Road, rolled out to all

stations feeding busy retail centres and big sporting venues, such as
Wembley.

Research has shown that 73% of passengers watched the digital screens at
Tottenham Court Road for all or most of their journey on the escalator
and a majority agreed that the signs brightened up the station and were
enjoyable to look at.

The next advertiser to use the screens is Sony's Bravia range of
Freeview-enabled digital TVs. The campaign was developed by Viacom
Outdoor and Tonic.

TfL also wants investment in cross track projection, in which digital
images are projected onto a wall on the other side of the tracks.

This currently allows for larger moving images than the digital
screens.

Tfl wants to double, if not treble, its £30m cut of the annual
revenues. The rest of the £100m is split between Viacom and
outdoor media agencies.