Mc-TV Is Coming: McDonalds Launches In-Restaurant TV Network

It's a growing trend.  First it was at the airport - where travelers were subjected to watching the airlines in-house television network.  Then, the proprietary channels started showing up at gas pumps, where drivers could get news updates and information on small screens that were built right into the pumps themselves.  Now, it appears that the world's largest fast food restaurant is getting into the game as McDonalds gets ready to launch their own in-restaurant television network.

The channel's aim is to offer exclusive content to entertain customers. More ambitiously, it also intends to create promotional and sales opportunities for record companies and others who want to dive into McDonald's vast customer pool.

Lee Edmondson, who has spent more than eight years developing the concept for McDonald's, said the fast-food chain is thinking way outside the TV box.

"It is a vision that is more than television," more than the "passive relationship" that viewers have with gas station or supermarket TV feeds, said Edmondson, who comes from a venture-capital background.

News and information will be top of the content list, but there will also be insider information that will be passed along.  One example McDonalds has provided is that their marketing arm plans to promote exclusive downloads or promotions that customers would only see on the in-store television network.  In some ways, this would help promote a loyalty program for the restaurant.

McDonald's creates own network for in-restaurant TVs | TBO.com.