CBS while you buy groceries

March 28, 2006 by Dave Haynes

This was passed on to me:

"In what appears to be a first, CBS has signed up to become a programming partner with SignStorey Inc., a Fairfield, Connecticut-based company that has video screens installed in 1,300 supermarkets nationwide.

Virginia Cargill, the CEO of SignStorey, said CBS will provide 1-2 minutes of programming for each video loop that appears on the in-store monitors. Each loop consists of about 8 minutes, half of which is advertising.

Other companies will provide the rest of the programming, including Meredith Corp., a media company that owns TV stations and a number of magazines including Better Homes & Gardens."

One question: "Why?"

The screens at the check-out lane thing is mystifying enough, but adding news and TV promotions in there makes it even sillier. I flew American Airlines recently and was massively irritated by their in-flight TV, which was just one long promo with bits and bytes from shows.