The Northeast Times, September 6, 2007

Ads in the digital age

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Sick of seeing "I hate Steven Singer" in giant bold letters on your way downtown every work day?

How about the litany of Miller Lite, Coors Light and Yuengling ads that loom over Interstate 95 mile after mile leading up to the South Philadelphia stadium exits?

Some relief, at least a form of it, may be on the way for motorists who view local highway billboards as more of a nuisance than an incentive to patronize the products or viewpoints that they purport.

No, there are no plans to take down the billboards.

But a new technology being introduced locally by Clear Channel Outdoor will soon give this most grandiose form of uninvited marketing a lot more variety.

Digital billboards are not making their Philadelphia debut without controversy, however. Critics argue that the giant internally illuminated signs with rapidly changing facades pose a real safety hazard in an era when driver distractions like cell phones, video screens and fast food routinely contribute to havoc on the roads.

On Aug. 20, the multimedia conglomerate announced the erection of eight new digital billboards in and around the city, each replacing a traditional static billboard.

One of the sites is on the southbound side of I-95 near Ashburner Street. Another is on northbound U.S. Route 1, just beyond the city border in Bensalem Township.

Within a couple of weeks, the billboards will be fully up and running with a rotation of commercial ads and public service announcements, Clear Channel officials say.  "They are all installed, and we’re testing them right now," said George Kauker, president of the firm’s Philadelphia Division, which is based in East Torresdale.  "They have static images. We have not started to rotate the copy yet."
 

According to Kauker, the new technology avails advertisers to a wide range of options not available with old-style billboards.  In the past, advertisers would generally lease sign space for months at a time. The rates would depend on the location. The image on the sign would rarely change.

With a digital sign, the ads change every eight seconds. A single site could accommodate dozens of different advertisers on any given day. Also, a single advertiser may choose to vary its message depending on the day and time.
 

"On regular billboards, the rates vary by location. On digital billboards, they vary on the number of slots (purchased) and the amount of messages," Kauker said. "There’s a lot more flexibility for advertisers."
 

The Clear Channel official would not discuss specific advertising rates.
 

According to published reports, companies like Clear Channel have been paying about a half-million dollars to erect each new digital billboard. Kauker would not discuss the cost.
 

Remote computers control the content and rotation of the ads. Kauker noted that the format can make billboard advertising more affordable for smaller, local merchants because they don’t have to make a long-term commitment.
 

Clear Channel is also pitching the new signs on their community service potential. The company has promoted endorsements from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, along with the top cop in Bensalem Township, public safety director Fred Harran.
The billboards can publicize weather or homeland security emergencies, traffic snarls and missing-child Amber Alerts in real time. They did exactly that in Minnesota following the recent interstate bridge collapse, Kauker claimed.
 

"Public service will be a component of their use," Kauker said.
 

Some folks are concerned that the signs may contribute to traffic snarls or worse.
 

The Philadelphia-based Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) has made a crusade out of combating the proliferation of billboards around the city largely for aesthetic reasons. But aesthetics are not the issue with the digital signs, claimed Nicole Seitz, program manager for the non-profit organization.  Rather, it’s the safety of the attention-grabbing devices, Seitz said.
 

There are about 1,800 billboards in the city, including those overlooking highways, as well as those on rooftops in the neighborhoods.
"You don’t need to be a traffic engineer. It’s simply common sense," Seitz said. "The whole point of outdoor advertising is to divert your attention to whatever they’re promoting."
 

In turn, when motorists pay attention to the signs they may lose focus on the road.
 

Because the technology is relatively new, few studies have confirmed or refuted the distraction theory.  A recent federal study of various highway safety factors revealed that the likelihood of an accident increases dramatically when a driver is distracted for two seconds or more.  "That’s any kind of driver distraction," Seitz said.
 

Kauker argues that digital billboards are no different than traditional billboards in that respect. In fact, he said, the Virginia Tech Traffic Institute, in a study funded by the outdoor advertising industry, concluded that digital signs in the Cleveland area had no impact on highway safety.  "They use the same technology and the same increments that we’re using here in Philadelphia," Kauker said.
 

The eight-second increment is based on New Jersey regulations, the executive explained. One of the eight new Philadelphia area billboards is on Admiral Wilson Boulevard just east of the Ben Franklin Bridge. In Pennsylvania, the minimum is five seconds.
Also, the billboards must conform to a series of regulations concerning brightness and content, as well as any local ordinances.
They can’t flash or have moving images or content. The transition from one message to the next must be instant with no "dissolve" or "fading" effects. That is, no portion of one ad may overlap or be included in the next ad.
 

"Illumination intensity" or "contrast of light level" must remain constant, according to state law. The local signs will be brighter in daytime and dimmer at night to accommodate for ambient light levels, Kauker said.
 

Seitz, the SCRUB program director, thinks that public agencies should take a closer look at the new technology and its potential impacts before allowing companies to operate the signs.
 

Digital billboards appear throughout the United States but are still relatively rare with about 500 among the nation’s 450,000 billboards, according to a recent Washington Post article.
 

"We’ll have dozens up and then find out these really are dangerous," Seitz said. "Then what do we do? I really think we need to err on the side of caution."
 

Clear Channel adhered to all existing legal requirements for installing the signs, including city zoning and building permits, Kauker said.