Clear Channel Canada has updated its signage on the Atrium on Bay media tower in Toronto’s Dundas Square. The new 40-foot by 30-foot screen has the same resolution as the Samsung screen that sits atop the structure.
It is the third generation of this particular screen on the media tower, which features eight faces and a total of 14,150 square feet of advertising space.
Alain Simard, Montreal-based vice-president of marketing, eastern Canada for Clear Channel, said the new screen is intended to match the resolution of the 97-foot wide by 60-foot high Samsung screen – the largest digital screen in the country – that was erected atop the structure about a year ago.
“When we changed the Samsung sign on top, this one didn’t look that fresh,” said Simard.
Dundas Square boasts a daily circulation of 137,700, according to Clear Channel, while the screen’s placement also ensures high visibility among the more than 1 million people who attend outdoor events at Dundas Square and the 47 million people that pass through the Toronto Eaton Centre each year.
Digital currently represents close to 25% of Clear Channel’s annual revenue and will continue to grow, said Simard.
The recent Net Advertising Volume Canada interim report from TVB has out-of-home accounting for approximately 4% of the total major media ad spend, with advertisers investing $521 million last year. Out-of-home revenue has grown for five straight years, the only traditional media to accomplish that feat.
“Out of home was the first media and is the only media that has been able to sustain its market share,” said Simard.
He characterized business this year as “good,” noting Clear Channel is drawing interest from many of the new U.S. retailers entering Canada. However, he said those gains are being partly offset by the recent spate of retail closings, which include Target, Future Shop and Mexx.
The new digital screen comes amid several other initiatives for Clear Channel, which recently introduced new digital columns on the GO Transit concourse in Toronto’s Union Station.
The first three columns went live last Friday, with another three going live this week. Clear Channel said a four-week campaign on the columns offers circulation of more than 5.2 million, and weekday exposure of more than 250,000.
The company also recently won a 10-year contract to operate transit shelters in Edmonton. The $16.3 million contract, which includes approximately 400 shelters throughout the city, officially begins Jan. 1, 2016.
