Electronic billboard ad company to launch screens in UK retail outlets

US digital billboard company Next Generation Network (NGN) is launching its E-Billboards brand in the UK.

E-Billboards will have its own management and sales team in the UK, to be in place for early next year. Several senior outdoor industry figures have already been approached for positions.

In the US, the company already has a national network of Internet-enabled digital video screens. They are set up in coffee shops, fast food restaurants, convenience stores and on petrol pumps. The screens provide information and carry ads.

The 10-second animated advertising breaks are sandwiched between weather forecasts, sports scores and missing-person alerts.

The company was founded by Jerry Joyce, who originally headed Patrick Media, one of the largest billboard companies in the US.

The first screen appeared in the US in 1997.

Lisa Edwards, a regional manager of E-Billboards, confirmed the company was entering the UK market. NGN’s vice-president of corporate development, Steve Nesbit, who is leading the UK expansion, was unavailable for comment.