LOS ANGELES -- NBC Universal has announced a deal this week to get its TV programming out to captive audiences at the gasoline pumps, said Brandweek.
Under the deal, NBC will show national and local news, weather and entertainment news on daylight-viewable 17-in. screens with stereo speakers. The deal with VST Media Network, Los Angeles, means the programming will first reach 17 Shell stations in Los Angeles. By year's end, VST plans to have 500 stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, the report said.
Terms of the [image-nocss] deal were not disclosed.
Programming is in three-minute bursts, said the report, activated when pumping begins. That duration was determined to be the average amount of time people spend filling up, it added.
"Not to sound too corny, but as you're filling your tank, we're filling your mind," Ric Harris, executive vice president of digital media and strategic marketing at NBC Universal Television Stations, told the magazine.
Harris said it is also a good opportunity to get NBC's brand out in a cluttered environment. "As the media landscape has changed, this is a great opportunity for NBC to reach the customer," he said.
The programming also is a vehicle for 15-second ads, which will run between breaks, said the report. Some of the ads from Tropicana and Nestl a try to entice gasoline pumpers to enter the convenience store.
According to Gary LePon, VST president, because of automated credit card payments, only about 25% of people enter the stores.
VST also has drawn State Farm, which is advertising its car insurance with an ad that compares the high price of gasoline with the premiums the company's competitors charge. "It's utilizing a car moment to bring up car insurance," Mark Gibson, assistant vice president for advertising at State Farm, told Brandweek.
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