THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! SHOPPERS ARE CAPTIVE AUDIENCES FOR UBIQUITOUS IN-STORE VIDEO ADVERTISEMENTS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

Though you muted that ad off your TV last night, it will find you - at your local supermarket, at your movie theater and at your ATM.

Advertisers used to rely solely on television and print media to spread the word of their latest car, movie or soda, but waning consumer attention has led them to seek out new ways to catch buyers' eyes.

Taking advantage of improvements in flat-screen technology, they've increasingly managed to squeeze paid programming into previously untapped ad space. So while you may be able to dodge a pitch at your own home, it will likely resurface in another form once you get out in the rest of the world.

Premier Retail Networks, who provides in-store content for Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Best Buy and others, recently acquired the rights to Ralphs and announced plans to extend the grocer's checkout displays. Currently in only 100 of Ralphs' Southern California stores, the flat-screen monitors will soon roll out to cover all 325 in the chain, with PRN focusing most heavily on Los Angeles.

``This gets the perceived wait time down, gives information the consumer finds relevant, recipes, news and what's on TV,'' said Charlie Nooney, PRN's chief executive officer. ``You have an engaged viewer with no remote control. They're a forced viewer.''

His screens pump out a continuous loop of news, sports scores, weather, movie trailers, recipes and advertisements, beamed in via high-speed wireless Internet connection. Ralphs receives an undisclosed fee, paid by PRN with money generated by advertisers. Nooney declined to release the financials for his privately held firm, but it does boast a wide enough range, 5,400 stores, to command ad revenues of tens of thousands of dollars per spot.

``We don't like to have long lines, but if people are waiting, it gives them something to do,'' said Terry O'Neil, a Ralphs spokesman. ``Customers seem to be generally accepting of it as a way to make the time go a little quicker.''

He likes the programming because it doesn't blare brand names, but employs them more subtly as featured ingredients in the recipes, and says customers don't seem to mind.

``They're distracting, so they make the line seem shorter,'' said Victor Sacerdote, a Sherman Oaks financial operations manager. ``I'm so used to ads, I don't care. Everyone's always trying to sell something.''

And if consumers ignore the message in Ralphs, when they stroll to their local Wal-Mart or Circuit City, they'll find it there. When it's time to get cash, the ATM may have an ad on it as well. Bank of America recently ended a three-month test running CNN ads on its screens and now has customers watch its own ads pitching loan and credit deals. At 140 Los Angeles 7-Elevens, new Vcom machines, high-tech ATMs, check-cashing and bill-paying kiosks debuted this month. While customers are waiting for the transactions to clear, up to 1.5 minutes for some services, they'll watch ads for Slurpees and other goods sold within.

Moving the ads outside their traditional venues has become a necessity. Television has become so expensive and oversaturated with commercials, Advertising Age executive editor Jonah Bloom said marketers need to find cheaper, more effective ways to attract viewers. While he says they'd pay $135,800 for a 30-second spot in prime time for the major networks, a 30-second ad can cost only $45,000 on PRN's screens, repeating once every 10 minutes for a week.

``The marketers are under phenomenal pressure right now,'' Bloom said, ``under pressure to their shareholders to show that marketing is working.''

High ad rates have even caused networks' own partners to seek out the new forms of media. NBC Enterprises, which handles syndication for the Burbank-based network, began running commercials for ``Access Hollywood'' in Ralphs several weeks ago.

``Consumers are being bombarded with all these different shows and all these different channels, so if I can grab them at the checkout line, I'm going to do it,'' said Mary Beth McAdaragh, the division's vice president of marketing. ``I want to reach women ages 25 to 54 who are at home watching TV during the day, and they're the same ones who are going to be at the supermarket buying groceries.''

Along with the others, Captivate Networks Inc. has placed flat-screens in 25 downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers and Intell Marketing, known for its taxicab televisions, has its eyes on the region for development. While advertisers love the new technology, not all its intended consumers share their enthusiasm.

Lynn Fireside, a Benedict Canyon resident shopping at a Sherman Oaks Ralphs, volunteered her contempt for the ad program.

``You want to know what I think about that thing? I hate it,'' she said flatly. ``Can't we go anywhere without music, noise and yack-yack? I'm all for promotion, but it's invasive of my space.''

But though some may find the ads annoying, PRN's Nooney says they are effective. According to his studies, brand recall of the products displayed within is 67 percent. Using the network developed at Ralphs, he plans to keep pushing his way across the country into more grocers, expecting to cover 15 major cities within the year.

``You'll only see more of this,'' Bloom said. ``And as you do, people will work harder and harder to come up with more technology to make it more impactful.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Ads for state park visits are appearing on the checkout-stand video screens along with news, sports and recipes.

(2 -- color) Supermarket video screens include tasty recipes, news headlines and more, all aimed at a captive shopper audience.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer