Tuesday, April 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Cafe USA debuts at the Boulevard Mall food court on May 1.
But don't expect to buy hamburgers there.
Cafe USA is an advertiser-supported magazine-style television program created by Food Court Entertainment Network Inc. for broadcast to food courts in large, enclosed shopping malls.
And Monday, Turner Private Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System Inc. signed a $6 million, two-year agreement with FCEN to expand Cafe USA, as the nation's largest in-mall television network.
Under the deal, Turner will be the exclusive program supplier for Cafe USA, and will produce a program package that draws on Turner Broadcasting's vast resources -- including CNN, Turner Sports, Cartoon Network and Turner Entertainment properties.
Since FCEN's initial launch in October 1995, TPNI has been the exclusive supplier of programming.
The Boulevard is the first mall scheduled for installation since the completion of the company's evaluatory period, and its fifth mall nationwide.
Cafe USA offers a magazine format program designed to reach customers in mall food courts, where 25 percent of mall shoppers visit and are more likely to make impulse buying decisions, according to FCEN President and CEO Steve Bowen.
"There are four million people a day in food courts. They're seated, relaxed and receptive. And the Boulevard Mall is an ideal venue to showcase Cafe USA's power as a sales building tool and its value as an entertainment amenity to the national and international mall community," he said, adding that an A.C. Neilsen study showed that shoppers who watched Cafe USA at four test malls bought more than those who didn't.
The Boulevard's 24,000-square-foot food court has over 500 seats.
Bowen also said the Boulevard serves as the kickoff of an aggressive national expansion plan that ultimately targets 750 malls in the United States.
FCEN expects to be in 40 malls in 1996 and up to 150 malls nationwide by the end of 1997, subject to additional financing.
Cafe USA is broadcast on a first-of-its kind audio-visual system.
The programming is fed, at no cost to mall owners, by satellite to 22- to 27-inch color monitors in mall food courts. The audio system automatically adjusts volume and sound quality for program content and noise levels.
Two thirty-minute programming segments run continuously.
The shows are hosted by Sarah Purcell, and feature CNN news, fashion, Sesame Street, sports bloopers, movie reviews and eight minutes of advertisements.
According to Dow Jones news, FCEN charges advertisers on a scale similar to the way on-air broadcast time is sold.
A minimum four-week contract costs $2,250 to $3,000 per mall. A 26-week contract runs for $1,500 a month per mall.
Bob Touma, the Boulevard's general manager, said he knew Cafe USA was a winner when he first learned about it in 1994.
"As a mall developer, MEPC is constantly reviewing options to provide added value to our shoppers and tenants, and it is a real coup for us to be FCEN's first expansion site," he said, adding that Cafe USA's debut will coincide with the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual convention.
"It is particularly fitting that this year's ICSC convention, which is focusing on the trend of shopping malls as entertainment venues rather than shopping destinations, will be held here in Las Vegas just steps from the Boulevard, complete with Cafe USA airing in the food court," he said.
The two-year programming deal provides for TPNI to take part if its first-year payment in a combination of equity and cash. TPNI's total equity stake will be 4.8 percent in FCEN and its holdings will be in the form of common stock.
The entertainment group within Turner Broadcasting Sales, Inc. will act as the exclusive advertising sales agent for Cafe USA during the two-year agreement.
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