Baseball On The Subway

[WhoozOn1st]

A brief item from Sports Illustrated online...

New York city subways will show playoffs

"The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it will be airing video clips from Major League Baseball broadcasts on the shuttle that runs between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal."

 

[Bob Dylan]

Go Rangers! Go Phillies! (Lastros Yankees #@*!@#$%!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

This NY Times blog gives a more detailed account of the planned subway baseball videos, which are part of a larger effort by the MTA to increase its advertising revenue.

M.T.A. brings TVs to the subway

"While video advertisements have been part of some transit systems such as Boston, Buenos Aires and Madrid for years, the transportation authority began playing with the technology only in the last two years. In 2008, it began installing L.E.D. screens on the sides of city buses, with content updated monthly. Last year, it began a pilot program of similar L.E.D. screens on a small number of trains on the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road.

"Similarly, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey teamed up with NBC in 2009 to bring its PATH Vision to its trains. More than 100 of the trains now display PATH Vision, news, sports, advertising and service updates through 25-inch screens at stations and inside more than 100 trains."

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Here's another take, from RailwayAge, on the subway baseball deal, with greater emphasis and more info on the overall ad revenue strategy, especially on the LIRR:

MTA commits to "novel" advertising

"Specifically, 50 of the Long Island Rail Road's 836 M-7 train cars will display ads that begin at the level of the doors' floors and extend up to the bottom of the cars' windows. These cars will travel through the most heavily used portions of the Long Island Rail Road. The ads, promoting Cablevision's Optimum WiFi, will be visible to customers boarding the trains on platforms as well as passing motorists and pedestrians."

Judging by the reader comments accompanying the above-linked NY Times blog post, most folks aren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of subway TV, baseball playoff highlights or no. L.A. buses have video screens, but happily I've not had a chance to experience them.