C2C are currently in the process of installing TV systems onboard every carriage on all of their trains. This is being sold as an in-journey news/sports/travel information service. Above every seat there will be a speaker that adjusts it’s own volume according to the background noise, so you will always be able to hear it. There will be no control over the volume or program content by individual passengers. Per carriage there will be 5 – 6 TV screens.
Forget the view ourside
This may be considered annoying enough, you can imagine the type of banal programming you will be forced to watch, but the main gripe with this system is that it will be used to broadcast advertising. In fact, I am sure this system would not even exist were it not for the advertising revenue it will generate for the train company and the company supplying the TV equipment.
Letters of protest have been sent to C2C. Their response has been, “By having a television free section in each coach there will be ample opportunity for our customers to avoid the facility should they wish“. From my experience of the system the quiet area is very small will quickly be filled. So, the majority of the passengers on each carriage will always be in the, “noisy area” whether they like it or not. I am also dubious about how quiet the quiet area will be. You will not be able to see a TV screen, but there is nothing to stop the sound travelling across to the quiet area. C2C also claim, “…our customer research showed that the minority would prefer to travel without the onboard TV, with most of our customers being either in favour of it or neutral”. I would like to know who they asked and what questions were used in their research. I would also like to know the comparison between the number of people in favour and those who were neutral.
This is an incredibly intrusive and practically inescapable form of advertising. The system has no off switch or any form of control available to the passenger. If you use C2C trains to travel to work you are going be subject to this system every day twice a day, that’s heck of a lot of advertising time. I also think if the system is a success on C2C trains, I see no reason why it will not spread to every other form of public transport.
If you travel on C2C and are opposed to the installation of this system, I would suggest helping them with their market research by writing to them to register your complaint. They can be contacted here:
http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/contact/index.html
The company setting up the system are called 360 Onboard, they can be found here:
http://www.360onboard.com/
I would also suggest, if you are a regular train user, that you write to your train company expressing your opinion about this system. The first time I was aware of its existence was when I boarded a train that already had it installed. There has been little if any publicity about this system at all.
Letters of protest have been sent to C2C. Their response has been, “By having a television free section in each coach there will be ample opportunity for our customers to avoid the facility should they wish“. From my experience of the system the quiet area is very small will quickly be filled. So, the majority of the passengers on each carriage will always be in the, “noisy area” whether they like it or not. I am also dubious about how quiet the quiet area will be. You will not be able to see a TV screen, but there is nothing to stop the sound travelling across to the quiet area. C2C also claim, “…our customer research showed that the minority would prefer to travel without the onboard TV, with most of our customers being either in favour of it or neutral”. I would like to know who they asked and what questions were used in their research. I would also like to know the comparison between the number of people in favour and those who were neutral.
This is an incredibly intrusive and practically inescapable form of advertising. The system has no off switch or any form of control available to the passenger. If you use C2C trains to travel to work you are going be subject to this system every day twice a day, that’s heck of a lot of advertising time. I also think if the system is a success on C2C trains, I see no reason why it will not spread to every other form of public transport.
If you travel on C2C and are opposed to the installation of this system, I would suggest helping them with their market research by writing to them to register your complaint. They can be contacted here:
http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/contact/index.html The company setting up the system are called 360 Onboard, they can be found here:
http://www.360onboard.com/ I would also suggest, if you are a regular train user, that you write to your train company expressing your opinion about this system. The first time I was aware of its existence was when I boarded a train that already had it installed. There has been little if any publicity about this system at all.
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Here here
27.01.2005 01:39
Om
Vegan Ritchie
Not in my train
29.01.2005 14:29
"Love them or loathe them, televisions on UK trains are to become harder to escape with TNX Television seeking a listing on AIM.
The company which in September brought televisions to a "captive audience" of Central Trains commuters now intends to raise £15 million by the listing.
Proceeds will be used to support the roll-out and installation of the 360 Onboard system beyond the Midlands - and produce an estimated market capitalisation at listing of £40 million.
TNX is now operational on 78 Central Trains carriages, and has contracts with six more train operating companies.
The US company aims to profit by exposing passengers to advertising, which they are hard-pushed to escape."
JK
Homepage:
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/post/business/tm_objectid=14877713%26method=full%26siteid=50002%26headline=hard%2dto%2descape%2dtrain%2dtv-name_page.html
The magic of A4 paper...
01.02.2005 23:48
Quite a few people stopped and read it, one couple managed to spend half their journey talking about it. The best moment, though, was when the train's guard came through the carriage checking tickets. He saw my sign, chuckled, and carried on checking the tickets without touching it.
Coventronian
Failed Protest
08.02.2005 23:49
A spokesman for rail firm, C2C said he understood passengers concerns about televisions being “intrusive” but added: “We are going to introduce televisions on the trains because we believe it will enhance the passenger experience.”
Full story in the Scotsman!?
Ad Bust
Patronising
09.02.2005 23:50
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"...Jonathan O'Neil, spokesman for the train operating company c2c, dismissed the protests as uninformed..."
"...He said that protesters had not tried to discuss the issue with the company. 'We aren't ashamed in the slightest that we will make a profit from the screens' he said. 'There is a section of society that seems to have missed that the railways were privatised in 1995.'..."
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Translates to, "Screw you. Were're in the business of making money, and like it or not, you are going to listen to our lovely adverts. HA! HA! HA! HA!" Also, what does he mean the protests are uninformed. The protests have come about because people have ridden on the test train and experienced the stupid system for themsleves... you can't get more fecking well informed than that.
Anyone wanting to stay informed or get involved in uninformed protests, The Thurrock Rail Users Group (TRUG) have stuff on their website...
360Offboard
Getting rid of the TVs
20.02.2005 01:56
However, there are some franchises that the TV company has signed 'exclusive negotiation letters' with many other train companies - meaning that the train companies are seriously interested, and have committed only to negotiate with 360onboard. If your train company is on this list, get involved now! Write to your train company, talk to fellow passengers - because once the contract's signed, it's far too late.
And Coventryonian - brilliant idea! More people should start doing this - the more we undermine it, the less seriously people will take this intrusive and insidious advertising.
thoughtcriminal
Gone Bust?
25.02.2005 12:30
Good riddance I say!
LTS
NEW POLL
04.03.2005 17:43
A POLL.
Well worth a visit.
Here is your chance.
Surfer
TV-B-Gone
07.03.2005 16:40
ScreenBuster