Everybody Paintings Get 4 NYC Locations

Lamar has been donating/selling space to the Everybody billboard project. I honestly cant tell what is up and what is down anymore. I know for a fact that the people who run most billboard companies are not bad people. I also know that they are not in the business of creating democratic artistic platforms for expression. Often the explanation for why a piece of art showed up on a billboard is less "we thought some art would be nice" and more "we had some extra space so why let it go to waste and make our clientele think we cant keep our inventory rented." Right now I am too tied up with other things to sleuth on this project so you can judge for yourself. More [HERE]

L.A.’s Digital Billboards Go Dark. What’s Next?

VIA: Ban Billboard Blight

Does anyone out there believe that the final chapter of the city’s digital billboard saga has been written? That the collection of black billboard faces pasted into the visual landscape like minimalist art pieces is Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor’s farewell gesture to long-suffering residents of the city? More [HERE]

Billboard Biz to Pay $3M in Sign Fines

VIA The New york Post

It’s sign-off time for hundreds of illegal billboards.

In a record settlement, the nation’s largest billboard company has agreed to pay the city a $3 million fine to clear up hundreds of summonses accumulated over the past decade, The Post has learned.

Read more: [HERE]

Lamar Advertising’s “Billboard Reduction” Plan: Why L.A. Should Show the Company the Door

VIA Ban Billboard Blight

Up until two years ago, this Louisiana-based billboard company had virtually no presence in L.A., although it was the largest owner of billboards nationwide. Then it shelled out $100 million for Vista Media, a company with some 4,000 signs, and just like that became the largest owner of billboards in L.A. Now it wants to trade almost all of those signs—remove them, in other words—for the right to put up brand new billboards, some digital, and many on city-owned property in exchange for the payment of a fee to fatten starving city coffers. [More]

Billboard Blight: A Gallery Of Shame

People have been commenting that removing outdoor advertising from the public environment would result in a huge loss of jobs for the city, something we can't afford right now. In the short term this is true, but reading a post on Ban Billboard Blight reminded me that a healthy city is far more important than a few short term jobs. In response to the potential job loss, BBB writes.

"Perhaps the question to ask these companies is what they do to harm the visual landscape of the city, and how this makes it a less desirable place to live and do business, and what that means for jobs and the economy"

VIA Ban Billboard Blight

At last week’s City Planning Commission hearing on proposed revisions to the city’s sign ordinance, representatives and lobbyists representing behemoth corporations like Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor argued that stricter regulations
on outdoor signage would harm the city’s economy and result in the loss of jobs, although they offered no facts or figures to support these assertions. Perhaps the question to ask these companies is what they do to harm the visual landscape of the city, and how this makes it a less desirable place to live and do business, and what that means for jobs and the economy.The billboards in the photos belong to Clear Channel, CBS Outdoor, and Lamar Outdoor (formerly Vista Media). Want to let them know what you think? Send an e-mail to the following:

• Layne Lawson laynelawson@clearchannel.com
• Ryan Brooks ryan.brooks@cbsoutdoor.com
• Theresa Doran tdoran@lamar.com