WRAL Begins Broadcasting to City Buses

Digital TV pioneer Capitol Broadcasting's WRAL (Raleigh, NC) on Tuesday began simulcasting its regular mix of local news, syndication and CBS network programming to a city bus equipped with receivers and two plasma screens. The inaugural service will be short lived, Capitol's Jim Goodmon said. The reception equipment will be removed from the bus and shipped to Las Vegas for demos at the NAB Show next week. But after the convention, the bus, along with three others, will be equipped for mobile as part of an on-going experiment this summer on reception quality and consumer interest. After that, Goodmon said, "We are all going to sit down and see what we think." Goodmon said he checked with CBS before beginning the mobile service, but feels he doesn't need a copyright green light from either the network or the syndicators. "I believe a simulcast is permissible." The WRAL programming on the test bus's plasma screens is framed by five panels. Two contain weather info; three are banner ads. WRAL is selling the ads and splitting the revenue with the city, Goodmon said.