AMOA-NY Opens Inquiry Into Jukebox Ad Revenue

NEW YORK CITY -- Advertising revenue paid to jukebox operators is the subject of an examination being organized by the Amusement and Music Owners Association of New York. The state trade association said it is asking operators nationwide to participate in a study designed to gauge the accuracy of Ecast Inc.'s advertising commission structure.

The San Francisco-based media company, which provides music services to some 10,000 touchscreen jukeboxes in the U.S., reported last year that it had paid more than $1 million in ad revenues to operators since 2005. Visa, McDonald's, VH1, Geico, Verizon, Absolut, Jeep and Microsoft are among the more than three dozen brands that have used the Ecast network as part of their place-based advertising programs. Ecast's media platform is integrated with DoubleClick's DART Enterprise ad-serving technology and can "geo- target" locations within the scope of any campaign specifications.

AMOA-NY executive director Danny Frank said the goal of the association's study is to gain a better understanding of Ecast's accounting. A spokeswoman for Ecast told VT that the company will cooperate with a third-party audit.

The Amusement and Music Owners Association of New York Inc. is a nonprofit trade group that represents and promotes the interests of businesses that own and install coin-operated amusement machines in locations throughout New York State. Ken Goldberg, Emerson Amusement Co. (Woodside, NY), is president.