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Minnesota City Refuses to Power Clear Channel Billboards

Minnesota seems to be a state at the forefront of an emerging controversy surrounding the use of digital billboards along the country’s highways, and the decisions being made within its cities are bound to be watched closely by advertisers and outdoor advertising companies alike.

A judge in Minneapolis today (Tuesday) ruled that the city of Minnetonka was indeed within its rights to order the power cut off to two digital billboards in the metro area, writes the Star Tribune.

Clear Channel Outdoor has installed eight such billboards as part of its new digital network. Other cities in the area, including St. Paul and Eagan, have put a halt to advertising on the signs until further research can be done to assess the aesthetic and safety issues surrounding the billboards.

Minnetonka officials cited national studies that suggest accident rates spike when electronic billboards are in use along busy freeways. Clear Channel went to court in Dec. to fight Minnetonka’s refusal to power the billboards, saying that cities have no right to regulate signs along federal highways. The outdoor company lost the fight (for now) when Hennepin County District Judge Lloyd Zimmerman said that there is “substantial evidence to support Minnetonka’s claim that Clear Channel avoided disclosing its plans to deploy LED billboards in the city of Minnetonka, and operated ‘under the radar’ to get the billboards up and running, in order to meet its expansion and profit goals for 2006.”
The ultimate outcome of the battle will depend on the city’s study of the electronic billboard issue, and on Clear Channel’s appeal (if it files one). The study is meant to wrap up within six months.