SoylentNews

Hugh Pickens writes:

The NYT reports that the largest and most expensive digital billboard in Times Square stands eight stories tall and is nearly as long as a football field, spanning the entire block from 45th Street to 46th Street on Broadway and contains nearly 24 million LED pixels, each containing tiny red, blue and green lights. At a going rate of more than $2.5 million for four weeks, the megascreen ranks as one of the most expensive pieces of outdoor ad real estate on the market. A digital art exhibition by the critically acclaimed Universal Everything studio collective will animate the screen until November 24, when Google will take over as the exclusive, debut advertiser with a campaign that runs through the New Year. Size matters in Times Square,” said Harry Coghlan. “Sometimes it just comes down to wanting to stand out, and it comes down to ego.”

One of the oldest forms of advertising, billboards are attracting new attention as digital displays allow for new levels of real-time interactivity. Each day, more than 300,000 pedestrians are estimated to enter the Times Square “bow tie,” where Seventh Avenue intersects with Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets. “People go to the Grand Canyon to see the most visually stunning natural canyon in the world” says Tim Tompkins. “They come to Times Square to see the most digitally striking canyon in the world.”