TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Wal-Mart Is Upgrading Its Vast In-Store Television Network

Wal-Mart Is Upgrading Its Vast In-Store Television Network

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:50:30 -0500

By CONSTANCE L. HAYS

PEARLAND, Tex. - Here in the Houston suburbs, Banana-Vision has
arrived. That's the industry nickname for the 42-inch high-definition
L.C.D. monitor installed directly over a pyramid of bright yellow
bananas in the produce section of the local Wal-Mart store.

This TV screen and others scattered through the store are part of the
Wal-Mart TV Network, a Web network of in-store programming that the
company started in 1998. These days it shows previews of
soon-to-be-released movies, snippets of sports events and rock
concerts, and corporate messages from the world of Wal-Mart, including
some intended to improve its battered public image.

But the principal reason for Wal-Mart TV is to show a constant stream
of consumer product ads purchased by companies like Kraft, Unilever,
Hallmark and PepsiCo. And little wonder. According to Wal-Mart and to
an agency that handles its ad sales, the TV operation captures some
130 million viewers every four weeks, making it the fifth-largest
television network in the United States after NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

While other retailers have experimented with in-store television,
Wal-Mart's network, which is available in almost all its 2,600
locations, is the most extensive. The company, eager to promote it, is
upgrading its broadcasting plans and equipment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/business/media/21mart.html?ex=1266642000&en=68665de07917ff37&ei=5090

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