McDonald’s launches TV channel

McDonald’s is intriducing its own TV channel — the company announced Oct. 17 it will begin establishing it in about 800 McDonald’s outlets in Central and Southern California in the near future.

McDonald’s Channel will target its dine-in customers. It will broadcast local news in addition to entertainment programming. Vimby, a Van Nuys-based digital production company, will be one of the major content providers.

According to ChannelPort Communications, the LA-based entertainment technology company managing the latest implementation, the channel will now be able to reach out to 18 to 20 million people every month.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Alison Trope, an Associate Professor at USC Annenberg, noted, “It used to be that the television didn’t move. Now corporations can tap into anyone’s consumer behavior at every of the day and brand their message.”

The channel, to be streamed in HD, will be visible from about 70 percent of the sitting space. The remaining regions would be classified as “quiet zones,” to be used by customers who do not wish to be disturbed.

Of an hour-long broadcast, eight minutes have been marked out for advertising. McDonald’s own advertising will be restricted to only 90 seconds of that duration.

Leland Edmondson, founder of ChannelPort, told the Times, “The intention is to catch and engage the customer, and then enhance their experience. This network is not intended to be all about McDonald’s. It is all about the consumer. The McDonald’s customer is everyone, and we want not to be passive viewers but to be active and participatory with this network.”