What Network’s Behind This?
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
At a Best Western 
Hotel in Brampton, Ont., this weekend, we noticed a bright, nicely placed, nicely sized Samsung screen in the breakfast area off the lobby.
However, the digital screen was incredibly busy with no less than eight different sections, with an ad taking up the largest section and others with weather, sports, news, date and time, U.S. dollar value, and traffic information, much of the different information provided by Toronto’s CP24 radio and television. While, admittedly, people spent a fair amount of time over their continental breakfast, waiting in line to make their own waffles (rather fun and different), or checking in and out in the adjacent area, it was difficult trying to figure out what to watch.
But what’s strange is that we couldn’t find out what network or software was behind the screen. The pleasant ladies at the front desk didn’t know, and couldn’t come up with an answer even from a manager.
“We’re part of a chain and all we know is that someone came in and installed it,” we were told.
If anyone knows, we’re simply curious. (A smaller, separate TV screen – we believe computer-controlled for messages – on a post in the lobby simply was blank.)
August 9th, 2010 at 13:21 @598
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUt7tWrtk4c
Isn’t this just a TV showing this channel? Doesn’t look like anything other than me, especially after watching the YouTube link of the channel.
August 9th, 2010 at 13:23 @599
Only eight sections? Why not 12, or 16?
August 9th, 2010 at 13:38 @610
Gail, that screen probably just is CP24, which is indeed incredibly busy, even for sitting audiences. There are many banks, food courts and hotel wait areas that run CP24 – a 24-hours news channel in Toronto.
These sort of channels and set-ups contribute, I believe, to the false notion of how to “do” digital signage.
The software under the hood is, I assume, Digimation, which is sold by Capital Networks.
August 9th, 2010 at 13:58 @623
This look a like a AV “let’s put a TV in the lobby” job. The content is a straight TV feed (Cable channel 24 is City Pulse or CP24) I would guess it’s just cable that is piped to the screen with no software or ‘network’ running this.
For the curious bodies out there CP24’s TV channel actually runs on Capital networks’ Audience Software suite – you can get more info at http://www.capitalnetworks.com
Dmitry Sokolov
August 10th, 2010 at 15:46 @698
And yet another missed opportunity…