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» It's
9 p.m. and a Late-Night TV Show Is on at a Dealership
If customers waiting for their cars to be fixed are watching
late-night TV in the service-department lounge, it's not
necessarily because the dealership keeps extended hours.
It's likely because the store subscribes to the Automotive
Broadcasting Network, a private TV network intended to entertain
and cross-sell dealership visitors on available products
and services.
In a new alliance, CBS Outernet, a part of CBS, will power
ABN with CBS programming not normally available during business
hours, including clips from “The Late Late Show with
Craig Ferguson,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and
news content from “60 Minutes” and “The
Early Show.”
Central to ABN's offering is a series of automotive-specific “shorts” such
as tech tips and walk-arounds and customized content intended
to ultimately increase sales.
“The CBS viewing experience is the perfect basis for
ABN's unique business proposition because we are supplying
rich
content that is sure to engage the dealership visitor,” says
George Schweitzer, president-CBS Marketing. “In turn,
ABN is providing an excellent new outlet for CBS video programming.”
ABN was founded by Jerry Daniels, a former executive vice
president of the Asbury Automotive dealership chain.
He says the idea for ABN was inspired by the powerful video
programming that auto makers create to share upcoming model
year plans with their dealer body.
He reasons that informative, compelling video media could
also be effective in the dealership itself to create a bond
with showroom visitors and customers waiting for their vehicle
to be serviced.
ABN research indicates customers who choose to wait for their
vehicles while they're being serviced spend an average of
92 minutes at the dealership. ABN says dealerships can relay
up to 30 targeted messages an hour to those customers.
ABN provides hardware, installation and programming, with
cost structures based on the level of content desired by
individual dealers.
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