- According to a report in Narrowcasting News, a private-subscription service from Bill Collins, Target Corporation has entered into the media business this past holiday season when it became the first Top Ten retailer in the USA to complete a nationwide rollout of a company-owned, multi-channel in-store private TV network.
- The network, called Channel Red, is currently comprised of three (and possibly more) distinct networks in Targets electronics/music/ movies department. Channel Red is deployed coast-to-coast across the USA at all 1400-plus Target Stores. The private TV network is not currently visible in any other departments at Target beyond the electronics/music/movies department.
- According to Target merchandising manager Steve Eastman, who was cited in early 2005 in the Twice on-line consumer-electronics newsletter, Target converted its former one-channel MTV-style Target Video Network to Channel Red by converting from analog signals to a digital media network that will provide controllable and metered high-definition content.
- One Channel Red channel serves Targets music/movies zone, where it narrowcasts samples of movies on DVD and music on compact disk (CD)which shoppers can buy at Target. A second Channel Red network is stationed in the video-game area of the electronics department where it lures young people into buying the newest video games.
- Shoppers can spot the third Channel Red network on the bank of televisions offered for sale in Targets electronics department.
- Content on this Channel Red network some of which appears to be narrowcast in high-definitionis an attractive combination of Target advertisements from network/cable TV, third-party advertising from brands sold in the electronics department, and image advertising that highlights Targets involvement in the community.
- The news on Target is part of a larger document produced by retail consultant Laura Davis Taylor and Bill Collins that reports on the current status of in-store TV networks in North American retail at the beginning of 2006. This 8,000-word report is available from the In-Store Marketing Institute. For more information, contact: Bill Collins, 513 271-4425; NarrowcastNews@cinci.rr.com
