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Screenverse & CEN Media Look At Doubling Programmatic SaleS

Jan 25, 2025 | 0 comments

CEN Media Group Taps Screenverse to Propel Programmatic Advertising Capabilities Across Cinema Screens

By OOH TODAY Believes All Voices, Not Just The Loudest, Must Be Heard

New York, NY – Screenverse, a leader in programmatic digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising and the largest network of digital screens in the world, today announced a partnership with CEN Media Group, a DOOH media network specializing in movie theater venues, to bring consumers differentiated brand experiences in a highly captive environment through full-sight, sound, and motion displays.

CEN Media Group, with a DOOH cinema network of over 1,800 programmatically accessible screens across 81 U.S. markets — including the iconic Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, iPIC Theaters, National Amusements, and Studio Movie Grill — has cultivated a premium advertising offering, having invested heavily in high-end digital screens to maximize the consumer experience. With planned investments in programmatic DOOH in the U.S. projected to increase by an average of 29% this year, and CEN’s own business seeing a growing number of campaigns being executed programmatically, they needed a partner with a far-reaching sales force and relationships across all major trading desks and key programmatic decision makers at large and small agencies.

“We are confident that with Screenverse’s expertise and network, combined with their ability to optimize our systems, we will double our already strong programmatic sales over the coming months.”

Now, Screenverse’s expansive DOOH media network and programmatic capabilities enables CEN to achieve broader reach and increase its programmatic revenue growth to ultimately transform how movie theaters can be dynamic advertising opportunities for brands to connect with audiences, especially during key moments like tentpole movie premiers.

“In 2024, cinema was projected to bring in over 18 million viewers per week, on average. And with movie-goers spending anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes in theater lobbies, these screens are a must-buy for advertisers looking to reach their target audiences,” said Daniel Fleischer, Vice President of Supply Partnerships at Screenverse. “By partnering with CEN, we’re not only helping to elevate their DOOH network as premium media in the eyes of buyers and help them increase revenue, but provide advertisers with an attentive, engaged audience.”

Access to CEN Media Group’s movie theater inventory grants advertisers the ability to gain 1 billion additional monthly impressions, significantly increasing their reach and engagement with movie-going audiences in cinema lobbies, restaurant and bar areas, concessions stands, and box offices. At launch, CEN’s inventory is available via Screenverse on Vistar, Place Exchange, Broadsign and Hivestack.

Discussing the significance of this partnership, CEN Media Group’s Founder & CEO, Kevin Romano said, “The immersive nature of the theatre experience minimizes external distractions, allowing audiences to fully engage with the advertising content. CEN Media screens effectively reach these audiences both before and after the movie. Our partnership with Screenverse will enable more brands to easily access these screens at scale. We are confident that with Screenverse’s expertise and network, combined with their ability to optimize our systems, we will double our already strong programmatic sales over the coming months.”

About Screenverse
Screenverse, established in 2020, is a prominent company in the Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) space, facilitating connections between brands and highly valuable target audiences. With an expansive DOOH media network base, including billboards, urban panels, and retail environments, among others, Screenverse has curated digital ad inventory networks that are highly utilized across direct and programmatic buyers from major agencies across the US. For more information, visit
https://screenversemedia.com.

About CEN Media Group
CEN Media Group, established in 2019, created the first fully-integrated, dynamic and immersive digital out-of-home network that connects Major Brands and Hollywood Studios with today’s sophisticated consumers. CEN provides a dynamic platform for advertisers to increase their reach by engaging today’s affluent moviegoers and to effectively drive consumer action after the movie.https://cenmediagroup.com

Movie Theaters Offering $4 Tickets on Aug. 27 for 2nd Annual National Cinema Day

Aug 21, 2023

National Cinema Day is back in time to ring out summer.

On Aug. 27 — a Sunday — thousands of theaters across the U.S. will slash movie ticket prices to $4 or less for any title in any format.

The second annual National Cinema Day hopes to build on the success of a similar offering over Labor Day weekend last year, when tickets were just $3. The overall initiative is the brainchild of the Cinema Foundation, a relatively new nonprofit organization that’s affiliated with the National Association of Theatre Owners.

More than 3,000 movie theaters operating north of 30,000 screens will participate in the one-day event as a means to celebrate the theatrical experience. Consumers can choose from an array of offerings, from new releases Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, Golda and Retribution to summer hits like Barbie, Oppenheimer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Sound of Freedom. The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Little Mermaid Sing-Along will also be on the marquee, along with rereleases of such classics as Jurassic Park (3D), American Graffiti, Lady Bird and Oldboy. [read more]

The 2023 cinema reboot

Feb 14, 2023

by Tim Mulligan

The global success of the second installment of the Avatar franchise, Avatar: The Way of Water (currently at $1.7 billion in box office revenue), is a timely reminder of the enduring consumer appeal of going to the movie theatre to watch the right kind of film. Recent box office successes such as Top Gun: Maverick ($1.5 billion in revenues) and now Avatar: The Way of Water address the desire for communal and zeitgeisty escapism among increasingly digitally savvy entertainment consumers. Both hits combine big-screen narratives with contemporary storylines focused on growing social concerns around the authentic role of the individual and society in an era increasingly dominated by automation and profit margins.

Why cinema taps into the IRL needs of digital consumers

There is an increasing appeal of community and authenticity, a theme forming the basis of tomorrow’s MIDiA Predictions webinar. In a digitally saturated world, the ability to deliver real-life (IRL) experiences as part of an entertainment proposition tap into the 2023 trend for repurposing of community. Creating this sense of community ranges from incorporating social media dynamics into video streaming services to fully embracing the IRL appeal of movie-going.

As highlighted in MIDiA’s December report; The great movie reset, cinema attendance is now the most popular monthly IRL entertainment activity, eclipsed only by going to eat at restaurants. Movie-going taps into the post-Covid need for shared communal experiences and content consumption. While overall box office revenues are still feeling the impact of the pivot to streaming during the Covid-19 pandemic, the resurgence in the appeal of cinema opens up extensive opportunities for developing hybrid streaming / IRL movie experiences to appeal to subscription-paying households. Younger IRL-motivated consumers and older silver streamers are parallel monetization streams that have not yet been addressed by the media and communications majors controlling the world’s leading studios and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services.

Big-picture narratives deserve the big screen

Alongside the cutting-edge computer-generated imagery (CGI) behind Avatar 2, at its heart, the appeal of the film resides in its compelling values-driven story arc. Combining the two creates a blockbuster IRL opportunity for studios and their parent companies who are brave enough to invest in the talent and the production values required to deliver a premium IRL experience. The one-week limited box office release, followed by the straight-to-streaming fate of Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, highlighted the risks involved when broader business objectives override the director’s vision of made-for-big-screen productions. In this case, Amazon acquired MGM, and its planned box office pushes on the back of exception test screening audience feedback was overridden by Amazon’s desire for Prime content. for James Cameron, the director of Avatar, 20th Century Studios (a Disney subsidiary) proved to be a strong first-release distribution partner, ensuring a full box office release for his project.

Cinema must prove its right to remain distinct from the wider world of video streaming. Channeling the IRL appeal of cornerstone releases for younger audiences alongside the home comforts of SVOD for silver streamers (those consumers aged 55+) through hybrid offerings is a key way to support this approach; both financially, and culturally.

What is Dwell Time and Why Does it Matter?

Feb 10, 2023

Written by: Kaeli Gilchrist

Dwell time is an important metric for marketers. But what it means and how it matters differs, depending on whether you’re considering online search or out-of-home advertising (OOH). You might say dwell time is even more important for OOH because it has broad implications for campaign planning and execution.

What do we mean by “dwell time”?

Online, dwell time measures the total minutes (or seconds) that someone spends checking out your site after finding you on a search engine results page (SERP). The time is measured from the moment they click to your site until they exit.

For online marketing, dwell time helps measure the relevance and quality of your website content. The more time visitors spend on your site, the more likely your site was not only attention-getting but worth sticking around for. Short dwell time indicates your site did not offer what the searcher wanted or expected.

For OOH, dwell time is the amount of time a consumer is within viewing range of your ad.

That can vary considerably depending on the type of OOH media you’re using and where. For example:

A roadside billboard may afford just a few seconds of dwell time, depending on its location and the speed of passing traffic. On the other hand, a billboard located at an urban intersection might provide 15-20 seconds of dwell time if traffic is slow or it’s placed next to a stop light.
A bus shelter or subway station ad might have a dwell time of 5-15 minutes as viewers wait for their ride.
A digital screen above your treadmill at the gym or in a restaurant may be visible for much longer, so the viewer may see your ad multiple times.

For OOH, dwell time is a factor of location, format and traffic patterns (vehicular and/or pedestrian).

Dwell time informs campaign decision-making

Understanding dwell time can help you geo-target the most effective ad placements, choose the most appropriate media, and develop the most effective content for each location to deliver maximum campaign ROI. Here’s a formula you can use:

Average dwell time x average daily impressions = total daily campaign exposure time

Longer dwell times allow you to tell more of your story

With more time, the viewer can take a second or third glance at your ad or, in pedestrian settings, stop to deliberately take in the content more thoroughly. The longer your ad is visible, the more opportunity the viewer has to see it, fully understand your message, and perhaps even engage with the ad itself.

That increases the likelihood that they will take action to visit your site or make a purchase.

However, all that doesn’t mean OOH options with shorter dwell times are poor choices! If your message is simple, you don’t need a lot of time to deliver it.

How well can they see your ad?

A car or bus may spend 10-12 seconds driving past a billboard, but it’s a moving view so details are harder to grasp. In addition, the viewing distance changes from far to near to far as you pass the billboard, further affecting readability.

So billboards work best when content is brief and unmistakably easy to grasp at a glance. That’s why they are so great for delivering simple concepts such as brand or product awareness.

Will they pay attention to your ad?

Interestingly, one technique for improving online search-related dwell time is also valuable for boosting OOH ad effectiveness. Embedding multimedia elements such as video, images, audio, etc. on your website makes your pages catchier and more engaging than plain text. These elements can also create interest in OOH ad creative.

Now that OOH has gone digital in nearly every way, clever use of multimedia elements can boost the chances that consumers in proximity to your ad will deliberately give it a look and perhaps view it longer.