I would like to see (actually I would like to own) a huge screen in a major city somewhere in the world that could be connected to a web sight. Let's call the web sight www.thevoice9149576.com <--- i'm positive it's available. Any person could log onto www.thevoice9149576.com and buy a block of time. They could do whatever they want with the display during their block of time.

Someone could take their girlfriend to Sydney Australia for vacation. He could make sure she was looking at the "The Voice" during his minute of time as some of their home videos are played of them laughing and carrying on. At the last 10 seconds the text pops up. "Will you marry me?". <sniffle> <sniffle>

If you charged $1 a second that would be $31,536,000 per year per screen. The dude that asked his wife to marry him would have payed $60 for his minute.

I know there is a huge screen in New York and their are probably others outside the U.S. but before you claim this idea is baked show me a link to reserve my 3 minutes in London and Sydney so I can thank them for fighting and dying with us in Iraq.
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003

It's called a Jumbotron http://www.bigbeefa...om/jumbotronFAQ.htm
[snarfyguy, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

times tower http://www.metropol...ent_0298/fe98vc.htm
what the times tower sold for and what it brings in [shazam, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Times Square Cam http://www.earthcam...ewyork/timessquare/
[thumbwax, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Baked. See link.
-- snarfyguy, Jun 20 2003


Snarf As I said in my description "I KNOW THERE IS A HUGE SCREEN IN NEW YORK" I am aware that there are many many of these in the world. My idea is to link them to a web sight and allow Joe Shmoe to reserve time by the second. These are screens that allow the average person like myself be heard somewhere else in the world. I asked you to show me a link to a sight where I could do this and I get a link to information on how to buy a Jumbotron for 4 million. Are you suggesting the guy in Sydney purchase a 4 million dollar Jumbotron, have it installed on the building he purchased in Sydney, and then propose to his wife. Or did you simply not bother to read the description.
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003


Car companies would monopolize it. -
-- phundug, Jun 20 2003


That's a drawback? If car companies want to pay me millions of dollars that's a bad thing? I don't think this would happen though because no one would look at the screen if it was only ads. And no one would advertise if no one was looking at the screen. It would balance out at whatever people are willing to tolerate in order to be entertained.
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003


sorry I see your point. What about Spiderman did he have web sight?
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003


Web sight: crosshairs for spiders.
-- Tiger Lily, Jun 20 2003


I wonder if it would be economically viable. The initial cost and ongoing upkeep of the display; the initial legal expense to battle zoning laws for a location; server co-location; ip carriage; Web site staff; Web secure-transaction fees; the lease for the space; taxes; insurance; staff to program messages; power; the undesirable time between midnight and morning . . . might not be as good as you seem to think and especially at a paltry $1 per second.
-- bristolz, Jun 20 2003


I would have fun with the undesireable time between midnight and morning. My message would be "watch out there is a man with a gun standing right behind you." [short pause] "MADE YOU LOOK!"

You could charge more in peak hours just like the electric company does.

Also the whole web end of things would not be that much. 10 million for display. 10 million for staff. 5 million for other crap. I'm still left with 7 million dollars in profit per screen.
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003


shazam: I read the description. Are you telling me you can't figure out how to use the web to rent time on a Jumbotron? Or that your invention is that it should cost $1 / second?
-- snarfyguy, Jun 20 2003


I'll bet the lease alone would be several million per year for any location worthy of the balance of the investment.
-- bristolz, Jun 20 2003


Search "Jumbotron advertising" on Google. It appears to be a lot more than $1/second. (Thanks for the correction, Kreuner.)
-- AO, Jun 20 2003


I added a link to what the times tower sold for and what the jumbotron brings in every year. I will look more into it. I agree that New York would not be a good place to put the screen. That's why I used London and Sydney for examples. If the artical that I linked to is valid (again I'm still looking into it) then the question isn't whether the cost is too high it's whether people would rent every second.
-- shazam, Jun 20 2003


I thought someone figured out how to do that Bene Gesserait thing from Dune.
-- Zimmy, Jun 20 2003


This "me too" annotation is in reference to Zimmy's annotation.
-- Jezzie, Jun 23 2003


[shazam] Your only + from me (the sweetheart known as thecat) because if nothing else -- baked or unbaked (in your area and mine - so says I unbaked) -- apparently your price point is much much more favorable (relatively speaking) to the masses. Power to the people (all people).

[phundug] no (big?any?) companies (companies are not, in spite of what stupid laws say, persons) are allowed to buy time -- only private individuals.
-- thecat, Jun 24 2003



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