by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
For several years, the Landing has been a popular spot to watch major sporting events, especially big Jaguars games and the annual Georgia-Florida clash. With several restaurants that have televisions, it’s easy to gather a dozen or so friends and make a party of it.
By this fall, you may be able to convene with several dozen of your closest pals for such events. Starting Wednesday, workers will begin installing a 10 by 20-foot large screen LED board on the Landing’s stage. Within a couple of weeks, the installation will be complete and the board will be functional. The board will be owned and operated by the Orlando-based Ledicmedia, Inc. whose president, Tom O’Neill, said a recent visit convinced him that the Landing was a perfect spot for one of his company’s big screens.
“I was on a road trip from Myrtle Beach and stopped at the Landing on my way through Jacksonville. I was overwhelmed with the possibilities,” said O’Neill, adding the Landing passed one of his personal interest exams. “In Jacksonville, the Landing is more of an icon. It passes my ‘taxi test,’ which means when you fly into Jacksonville and you ask the cab driver where to go in downtown, he says ‘the Landing’.”
O’Neill then spoke to Landing general manager John Kiddy, who put him in touch with The Rouse Company, the Landing’s parent company. A deal was worked out and the Landing is just a couple of weeks away from having its own JumboTron, similar to the two big screens at Alltel Stadium. Although the Landing’s big screen will be smaller than the ones at Alltel, which are 24-by-32, O’Neill said his will actually have a much better picture.
“It’s no different than what’s at the stadium, except I’ve been told that the technology there is actually kind of old,” said O’Neill. “Ours will be the latest and greatest available.”
The screen will be comprised of high-definition, 15 mm LED components capable of displaying near-television quality video with digital sound. O’Neill said he isn’t sure about the initial programming, but he has a good idea of the screen’s long-term uses: live TV with an open-air sports bar atmosphere.
“That’s our game plan. It’s my hope that the prime-time hours will have live programming, either local news or sports,” said O’Neill. “The first thing the people at Rouse asked about was the Super Bowl [which Jacksonville is hosting in 2005] and games like Florida-Georgia. We are trying to work out the logistics with the broadcasters and whether to use satellite or cable. We will get a lot of things answered after the first couple of weeks. We are working to establish something with national companies like Rouse and this is a good stepping off point.”
Ideally, O’Neill would like to see a healthy mixture of national, regional and local programming, with an emphasis on local. In addition to local news being an option, businesses will also be able to rent time from Rouse, who will sell screen time but won’t handle the technicalities of the programming.
“The Landing will have no involvement in the programming,” said O’Neill. “It’s all Internet controlled and will be handled off-site. With the right software, you can control the programming from anywhere in the world. This one will be controlled out of Orlando with maybe some input from Korea.”
One of O’Neill’s first objectives will be to get the Jacksonville and the Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau involved, as well as Mayor John Delaney. Until the programming develops its advertising content, most of the initial air time will be filled with editorial material.
“I am working with the CVB and Mayor Delaney in creating a welcome to Jacksonville message,” said O’Neill, adding that he’d like to see the CVB create a short feature on Jacksonville as well as local museums such as the Cummer and the Museum of Science and History.