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Internet Television and the Captive Audience Sonia Nelson November 2007

THESIS: Waiting presents an ample opportunity for content creators

I. CAPTIVATE NETWORK

In-elevator news source

Target audience: professionals The company was founded in 1997, nearly a decade before the Internet Television boom began. Beginning in about 2000, the company started installing thousands of wireless flat panel TVs in the elevators of office buildings throughout the U.S. The beauty of the Captivate Network is that it leverages content from other sources, including Yahoo!, CNN, The Washington Post, CNET and the Chicago Tribune. In addition to news and informational content, the Captivate Network provides the space for advertisers to reach a captive audience of potential buyers with income(!).

Captivate uses a fragmented screen to transmit a lot of content in a short period of time. There might be one main area. A ticker with headlines at the bottom. And advertisements to the right. The goal: to transmit a lot of media in a short amount of time. Think of the average elevator ride. 45 seconds. All interests must be satiated in this short timeframe. Every elevator I've ever been in has one Captivate flat panel television located above the floor buttons, though pictures of elevators on their site have two. One on each side.

In 2004, Gannett, a media conglomerate bought Captivate Network. Since then, Capticate has experienced strong revenue growth.

II. TAXI-TV NETWORK

VeriFone wirless devices entertain

New intiative will send news from online news sources to the same wireless boxes that NYC taxicabs will use to verify debit and credit cards. Channel 7 is a major partner. News fromthe eyewitness news hub will send content wirelessly to the boxes in the cabs to be displayed on the customer screens

Zagat also offering content to the wireless box

III. NEW DIRECTIONS

Women's restrooms as entertainment venues

Women spend precious minutes of their lives on line, waiting for the next stall door to open. Why not entertain them while they wait to take time their mind off the fact that there's a shortage of facilities for the number of occupants in the venue. Media sources like People.com, TMZ.com, and Oprah.com are wildly popular in the female community. Bring online content to the women on line. Headline teasers as well as short video clips would be ideal content for this demographic.

Spent any time at the post office lately? I had a meltdown in my last trip. At a high-volume time (Saturday morning), the logistics are nauseating. I spent about 30 minutes on line during my last trip. That's the length of a sitcom. Again, in order to pacify belligerent patrons like myself, the Post Office could adopt a network of news mixed with advertising. I'm sure that big companies like ebay (often considered a partner of the USPS), etc. would love an opportunity to reach a captive audience.