Insider ran a timely article this week from the OAAA on OOH People in Public Office. This week the Tennessee Committee on Government Operations held a Rule Review meeting. Included on the agenda was as request from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to amend their rules related to the Logo Sign program run by TDOT that allows local businesses to advertise at an upcoming Interstate exit. The TDOT was requesting the ability, where a logo sign for a particular service was full, to”roll-over” a potential advertiser to another logo sign with empty space that would be in a different service category. The TDOT also mentioned that there was a good bit of red-line in their revisions but those changes were to make the regulations clearer and did not change anything of substance.
State Representative Martin Daniel, who was featured in our OAAA article on Thursday, was in attendance as both a state elected official and a billboard operator/owner. He suggested to the committee that there were several areas where he felt the proposed changes were at issue:
- That the roll-over provision requested would be an expansion of the existing program
- That the the TDOT has expanded logo signs beyond serving more rural areas, which was the original intent
- That a proposed “Trailblazer Program” revision would allow more signage off the Interstate, extending the program and competing with billboard companies
- That where demand was significant, a sign location could be put into a bid process, potentially eliminating a current advertiser to a higher paying business
There was also strong input from several others in the industry including Dave Hogue of Outfront Media, Gary Douglas of Douglas Outdoor Media and Brad Mizer as President of the Tennessee Outdoor Advertising Association and East-West Media.
After testimony the committee voted to disapprove the rule changes requested by TDOT.
This is a great example of why it makes sense to be invloved in the political arena, whether has an elected representatibve or lobbying as a business owner on beha;f of the industry.
The entire discussion is worth watching and starts at 30 minutes 18 seconds on the following link.
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