PVI's L-VIS system, which was used by five NFL teams and
their broadcast partners during the first weekend of pre-
season games, was examined by Glen Dickson of BROADCASTING &
CABLE. The technology was used by the Redskins and WJLA; the
Chargers and KGTV; the 49ers and KPIX; the Vikings and KARE
and the Ravens and WBFF. The L-VIS systems were located at
the stations for all broadcasts, except a Chargers-49ers
game, where KGTV and KPIX used separate systems at Qualcomm
Stadium to "run locally targeted ads for their respective TV
audiences." B&C's Dickson reports that PVI shares the
revenue from the ads with the broadcast copyright holder.
PVI VP/Sales & Marketing Sam McCleery: "For baseball, we
lease the service to the team, the team sells the inventory
and we get a percentage of the revenue along with the
broadcaster." For the NFL games, the Chargers were the only
team to "sell the virtual billboards directly," as all the
other ads were sold by the stations. Chargers Dir of
Marketing Rich Israel: "We retain the TV rights for the
preseason games. We got Staples, which was our first cash
advertiser ... it's still hard to get a valuation on it
because it's so new. Staples is not somebody that typically
buys airtime, and they were looking for something a little
different." PVI is hoping to reach a deal with the NFL to
use its system for regular-season games (B&C, 8/11).
REVIEW: A WASHINGTON POST editorial notes the virtual
advertising used for the Redskins telecast: "Though we salute
the advertising industry for finding ingenious new ways to
penetrate our consciousness, we wonder whether the
implications of this recent digital technology toy have been
thought through" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/14).
