Look ma, no wires

Through a five-year agreement with IndoorDirect, the Denny's restaurant chain is unveiling a digital out-of-home network across 300 locations, reports MediaBuyerPlanner.

The LCD screens will air a 60-minute program featuring news, entertainment, music and sports, with one-third of the time devoted to advertising. The network will eventually appear in all of the chain's 1,500 locations.

The digital network was tested for a year at a handful of restaurants. It will also be used to showcase various Denny's marketing initiatives, like the one for its Rockstar Menu.

With the addition of Denny's, IndoorDirect will be deployed in 1,000 locations in top markets by the end of May. It operates networks for Arby's, Captain D's, CiCi's Pizza, Del Taco, Hardee's and Taco Bueno.

IndoorDirect claims that Americans eat 50% of their meals away from home, and says its screens reach 90% of the customers in the store.

Last year a study found that digital media in places like bars make a measurably positive impact on ad-averse youths. Some months later, pqmedia reported US digital out-of-home ad spend had tripled from the previous year.