On yesterday’s Billboard Insider podcast Black Media Execs Chenault Saunders and Prentiss Nelson talked about their iconic Atlanta sign and future growth.

You expanded into Atlanta in 2019 with the purchase of the 30′ by 100′ Atlanta sign in Atlanta’s sign district.  Talk about that.

We had an opportunity to buy a lease.  It was similar to the Nashville sign.  It had been there forever.  It was the CNN sign forever.  I believe Ted Turner owned it at one point.  It was a static.  We had a permit to take it digital.  Like the Nashville sign it was an engineering marvel – having to send supports…through an operating restaurant….a 3,000 square foot digital sign.  It exceeded our expectations coming out of the gate.

This sign was allowed to go digital based on a settlement with the city that…Boardworks…had settled…although we are in the district we are not permitted…under the entertainment district.  We have gotten to know Frederin Frazier who runs that program and Patti Reeves who’s on the board as well.  Atlanta has done a great job with that.  We are working on another project right on Marietta…it would be another spectacularly sized digital.  It’s a great program.  The art curation is something that we were already doing privately here in Nashville.  We had a philosophy we would never say “your ad here” on our signs so we worked with the city…and with different non-profits to curate art selections…

Future growth

We have two double digital 14 x 48’s on I-65 right outside the city.  These are going to be primo signs…Within Nashville…we’re developing a lot of signs.  In the Atlanta area we’re looking to do the same thing.  Some of that could be through acquisitions.  Some of that could be through new development.  Not only spectaculars but standard size boards…as long as you stay focused on high quality inventory it’s pretty easy to sell that inventory and manage that inventory…We’re getting ready to go down to a new market in Florida.

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