Clear Channel Launches UK’s First Roadside Digital Screen Network

Clear Channel Outdoor, the world’s largest outdoor advertising company, and Magink Display Technologies, have announced a collaboration to launch the UK’s first network of roadside outdoor digital ink billboards in London.

Clear Channel has selected 10 London sites, by busy arterial roads, on which the first digital ink billboards will be built in September, to go live in October.

The 2.3 x 5.3 metre screens will be more energy efficient then LED displays and be visible from 160° to ensure maximum visibility and exposure from any approach.

The sites will be based in Cromwell Road; Vauxhall Cross; Old Street; Archway Road; Middlesex Street; Old Kent Road; Finchley Road; Brixton Hill and Holland Park roundabout.

The billboards are based on an innovative reflective digital ink technology (Magink) that delivers superior visibility in sunlight and low power consumption compared to other digital display technologies such as LEDs.

The billboards will be controlled from a central hub and will be networked to carry multiple ads from five advertisers and one news/traffic content provider, which can be updated instantly and remotely. The advertisers will have the opportunity to book the network under a one year contract, each with category exclusivity. Each ad will be five seconds long and repeated every 30 seconds network wide, across all 10 Magink billboards, with each advertiser receiving an estimated 19,000 ad displays a week. The displays will take the form of a series of repeated static images.

Paul Meyer, global president of Clear Channel Outdoor, said: “We are very excited about our first significant pilot of Magink billboard networks. We’ve spent nearly three years working with Magink to achieve this milestone and believe this project will be invaluable in developing our long-term strategy for rolling out energy-efficient digital displays across our many markets.”

Clear Channel: 0207 478 2928 www.clearchannel.co.uk