Outfront Media collaborated with Turner Broadcasting and its agency Mediavest for the development and rollout of Ten (10) 72-inch portrait-style digital LCD Displays installed in strategic locations in the mezzanine level of specific stations in the New York City subway system. This marked the first time that a long-term digital deployment was installed in this environment.

Nominating Company: LG-MRI; Alpharetta,Georgia

Venue: Outfront Media (formerly CBS Outdoor); Maspeth, New York

Partners: Diversified Media Group, integrator; DynaServ, installation; Transit Wireless, data connectivity

Project: Digital dioramas

Category: Transportation

 

BACKGROUND

Turner Broadcasting and Mediavest were looking for a unique environment to provide dynamic digital content in highly visible and highly trafficked locations to promote its different networks including: CNN, TBS, adult swim, Cartoon Network, TNT, Headline News, Turner Sports, Turner Classic Movies and tru tv. Starting in February 2014, the displays were deployed in the New York City subway system with the immediate and urgent goal of providing streaming digital content and live feeds of Turner’s coverage of March Madness of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Playoffs. In addition, the need for exclusivity of the displays was critical to the marketing goals of Turner Broadcasting.

 

CHALLENGES

The subway system operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The need to install the displays without inconveniencing the general ridership required installation during the post-evening rush into the overnight on numerous nights. Infrastructure presented other unique challenges in a 100-plus year old transportation system. The project required dedicated electrical circuits to assure the integrity of the power feed to the displays. The bandwidth requirements to provide streaming content required 10Mb data circuits, which were provisioned by Transit Wireless. Currently, Transit Wireless is in the process of providing Wi-Fi connectivity in the subway system. In addition, painstaking attention to detail was critically important to ensure and assure the integrity of each installation in consideration of historic mosaic tiling and existing infrastructure to other systems in the subway environment.

 

SOLUTIONS

Outfront Media, in contracting with LG-MRI, clearly conveyed the need for a highly reliable display to meet all the challenges the environment presented. Since the displays are within easy access to the general public, access to the inner workings of the displays had to be minimized and concealed to deter tampering by means of security hardware. The faces of the displays were supplied with multi-layered laminated gorilla glass for safety and deterrence of potentially tampering. Data lines and power lines were concealed and contained in keeping with governing code. Other valued and well-qualified vendors also worked in the challenging environment of the New York City subway system.

 

RESULTS

Being the first of anything presents some interesting and unique challenges. The buzz and publicity generated by these displays was everything and more that Turner Broadcasting could have imagined. The idea that nothing stops in New York was challenged by the throngs of people who surrounded the screens to catch the live action of March Madness basketball.

Outfront Media won the DSE 2015 Silver Apex Installation Award in the Transportation category.