Captivate Network is the digital out-of-home advertising network unit of Gannett Company (NYSE: GCI). It delivers digital news and advertising to nearly 3 million consumers on high-resolution, flat-panel television screens mounted in elevators and lobbies of large urban office buildings and suburban office campuses. Captivate has approximately 10,000 screens in nearly 1,000 buildings in 24 of the top major metro areas or Designated Market Area (DMAs) of North America, delivering 50 million advertising impressions per month.
The Chelmsford, MA-based company serves corporate, advertising, and real estate customers. It streams news and entertainment content from over 100 major media outlets – such as The Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, WebMD, Wired and Yahoo – as well as its own original content, simultaneously with advertising in a split screen format. Because of its focus on major metropolitan office towers, advertisers use the Captivate network in an attempt to reach business professionals at their workplace. Similarly, office building owners and managers install Captivate screens to offer their tenants and visitors a premium building amenity.
Unlike most digital news and advertising networks, which rely on RSS feeds from external news sources, Captivate employs a team of professional editors who customize its news and entertainment content in real time for a local audience and the short format of its digital screens.
Captivate’s Canadian network is operated out of Toronto.
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The idea for Captivate Network came during an elevator ride when Captivate co-founder and CEO, Michael DiFranza, saw an opportunity to make people’s uneasiness in crowded elevators more comfortable by providing video media for them to watch. DiFranza launched the company with co-founders Todd Newville and Ray Pineau in October 1997, with its first installation at Boston’s Seaport Hotel.
In March 2001, Captivate merged with its competitor – Toronto, Ontario-based Elevator News Network (ENN) – to form the largest elevator media network company. ENN continued to operate in Canada under its own name until November 2001, when it changed its name to Captivate to establish a unified brand across North America.
Gannett Co., Inc. acquired the assets of Captivate Network in April 2004.
In July 2008, Captivate launched a family of blogs based on the topics most popular amongst viewers. And in May 2009, Captivate added online and live event programs to extend advertising programs beyond elevator screens.
Captivate Network’s at-work news and advertising network is a segment of the digital out-of-home (DOOH) market, which is essentially any type of digital advertising that reaches the consumer while he or she is outside the home. According to the Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2008-2012 from PQ Media, the U.S. DOOH media industry – which includes video ad networks, digital signage and ambient ad platforms – was a $2.43 billion in 2008, with the video advertising segment comprising approximately $1 billion. DOOH also comprises 29.1% of overall out-of-home advertising.
Captivate Network is a member of: Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau (OVAB), the not-for-profit pro-industry association formed in early 2007 in order to promote the advancement of out of home video and digital advertising networks. Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada (OMAC)
Office Media Network, the creator of The Wall Street Journal Office Network in partnership with Dow Jones & Company.