by Patti Connor and Mike Sharkey
Staff Writers
A six-month experiment at the Landing is apparently over.
According to Jay Jaffe, the owner of Legends Sports Bar and Bourbon Street at the Landing, the 10x20 foot big screen will come down next week. The screen is owned by Ledicmedia, Inc., an Orlando-based company, with the programming coming from both Orlando and Korea. Attempts to reach Ledicmedia President Tom O’Neill failed and the company’s Orlando phone number has been disconnected.
Landing General Manager John Kiddy would not comment on the matter and said only that the screen was experiencing technical glitches.
Neither Jaffe nor Legends General Manager Nancy Lennon blamed Kiddy for the screen’s failure. According to both, Kiddy urged Ledicmedia to provide programming outside of a steady diet of “The Wizard of Oz,” and concerts films showing Tina Turner and the Rolling Stones.
“It’s not the Landing’s fault,” said Lennon. “You can only watch ‘The Wizard of Oz” a million times before you get sick of it. John did push for more things like the soccer game [the United States-Germany World Cup quarter final match] and the company would not bend. I think they did it with good intentions. Unfortunately, they did not do John right.”
When the screen was introduced to the Landing in March, it was billed as a multi-use innovation. Plans were to air Jacksonville Jaguars football games, the Georgia-Florida game and any other game that may draw a crowd. O’Neill also talked about live, non-sports programming at night, having Mayor John Delaney film a public service announcement and letting the Jacksonville and the Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau periodically show their own PSA promoting the other attractions around the area. None of that came to fruition.
Jaffe believes another major problem was the screen didn’t produce any revenue and he’s not sure who to blame — Landing management or Ledicmedia. Jaffe doesn’t think the screen should have been used for any Landing tenants in the first place.
“They said to John that all the restaurants would be able to advertise on it,” said Jaffe. “Why do I need to pay for advertising when there are people sitting on my patio eating my food? Why should I advertise on that board? Maybe they didn’t have a sales rep selling air time. Why should we advertise the Landing when you are already sitting in the Landing? They are taking it down and it’s a half a million dollar flop.”