McDonald’s Channel comes to California restaurants
McDonald’s Corp will roll out a high-definition
television channel to nearly 800 restaurants in southern and
central California by March. The world’s biggest hamburger
chain is doing this as part of a test, and one day hopes to
take it across the United States.Businesses from gas stations and grocery stores to coffee
maker Starbucks Corp are beaming more entertainment
directly to customers, trying to address a captive audience in
a world crawling with entertainment options.McDonald’s Channel content partners include Walt Disney
Co’s ABC, BBC America and reality television producer
Mark Burnett, who is known for such hits as “Survivor” and “The
Apprentice.”Test markets have include Los Angeles, San Diego, Las
Vegas, Manhattan, Seattle and some communities in Oklahoma.As it evolves, the McDonald’s Channel will add more local
programming such as high school sports news.”We think that’s a major part of the community that the
channel can really bring to life,” said Leland Edmondson,
founder of ChannelPort Communications, which is overseeing the
project. “We’re talking to a number of sports properties.”The programming will include exclusive content and be made
up of short spots ranging in length from 90 seconds to 20
minutes. Diners who want to see longer versions of some spots
will have the option access them via mobile devices or home
computers.”There’s no remote on the table, but there is Wi-Fi in the
restaurant,” Edmondson said.Programs include “The McDonald’s Achievers,” profiles of
local high school and college athletes; “Mighty Moms,” about
local mothers balancing families and careers in sports; and
“Vimby” (Video In My Backyard), which has partnered with
Burnett to cover local lifestyle news including fashion, art,
music, action sports and nightlife.The channel will show less than eight minutes of
advertising per hour. McDonald’s will take a fraction of that
time, which will be shared with other brands, he said.Eventually, every McDonald’s in southern California will
carry the channel, which will be seen by about 18 million
McDonald’s customers in the area each month, Edmondson said.
