McCarran International (LAS) unveiled a 100-screen video wall in January in what is thought to be the largest such wall in a U.S. airport, measuring 33 feet by 19 feet. The video wall, in the airport’s D Concourse rotunda, is complemented by four smaller displays at the airport’s A, B and C concourses. Those displays use three to 10 screens each.
“Its eye-catching stature allows the airport and advertisers to speak to travelers from all corners of the world, and also presents a unique opportunity to increase revenue,” says Randall Walker, director of aviation at LAS.
The video walls are a product of a partnership between LAS and Samsung Electronics America. Alliance Airport Advertising brought the two together and has overseen the project from its infancy to completion.
“We spearheaded the project,” explains Shauna Forsythe, president and CEO of Alliance Airport Advertising, noting that her company was involved in planning, coordination, oversight of installation and software development, among other things. The company is now selling the digital advertising space and is responsible for managing all of the content that will be running on the screen. “We feel confident that from the early stages, this will earn a half million to a million dollars a year for McCarron. That’s new revenue, not cannibalized revenue.
LAS paid about $750,000 to $800,000 for the installation of the video walls and development of related software. The price does not include the LCD screens, which were donated by Samsung.
“Samsung wanted to have a landmark location to have this massive wall of 100 screens,” Forsythe says. “Our job is to sell advertising, and we thought that to generate the most revenue and use it most effectively, we need a digital network that is airportwide. We needed Samsung to do more than the 100 screens, because we needed video walls in the other concourses as well, not just the D Concourse.”
In response, Samsung agreed to provide a total of 130 screens, which allowed for the massive display, as well as the four smaller installations.
The five video walls can all run the same content, or each can feature different advertising, depending on advertiser specifications. Forsythe says the network was built for “optimum flexibility.”
“The system can run anything from a static ad to up to four-times HD in a full dynamic video presentation,” she says. “It will handle animation and full-motion dynamic. It’s just awesome when you see it running.”
Noting LAS’ vibrant conference and events market, Forsythe says the system was designed to accommodate both long-term advertisers and those who want to make a splash connected to a specific event.
“We have the ability within the loop to have an ongoing playlist, if you will, of standard advertisers that are running day in and day out, but we can expand it to put in three or four or five spots for a week during a particular conference, then pull them back out again,” Forsythe says. “It allows us to maximize revenue for the airport.”
