Digital Billboards Debut in Iredell County

Technology seems to have invaded every aspect of our lives -- and billboards are no exception.

July 18, 2011

July 17--Technology seems to have invaded every aspect of our lives -- and billboards are no exception.

The latest generation of the roadside advertisements -- it almost seems a stretch of the term to refer to them as 'billboards' -- look, from the ground, very similar to TVs and computers.

And, according to Darlene Payne, that's really what they are.

"They are giant flat-screen computer monitors," Payne explained Friday while overseeing the installation of the first two of them ever in Iredell County.

Payne is the owner of American Advertising Consultants, Inc. And the erection of a 10-foot by 30-foot digital billboard in the parking lot of Fort Dobbs Hardware on Turnersburg Highway just north of the

Statesville city limits and an even larger one (10-foot by 36-foot) along the northbound side of Interstate 77 near exit 49 was the culmination of three years of work.

"You always have to do research when you look for a location," Payne said. "Every county and every city has its own laws and they're always a little different."

Payne, who now owns about 25 billboards of varying sizes in Iredell and few surrounding counties, got into the business following a career in nursing.

In purchasing a piece of land in Iredell, the seller told her a tiny portion of the land was being rented to a billboard company.

"He said he had been making enough to pay the taxes on the property," Payne said. "That was about $800 a year."

Payne did some research and found that some people were making close to that amount every month. When she told the billboard company that she now owned the land and that lease price was going up, he pulled out. But Payne quickly found someone to replace him at her asking price.

She then realized there was money to be made in selling and displaying giant ads 50 feet up in the air.

The first ads on the 1-77 billboard have been sold to Black Pontiac; Eiko Hibachi Grill; Denny's; and Camping World. Payne is also throwing in a free ad to the City of Statesville, which displays the city's new branding logo.

The ads were "lit up," as Payne referred to it, on Saturday.

She said that aside from the fact that the ads -- which will rotate every 10 seconds -- are just brighter and more attention-grabbing, they are also a lot safer to install. There will be no hanging of heavy vinyl, tarp-like signs.

"You can actually change the signs from a cell phone," she said.

The billboards can display essentially any color needed for an advertisement. But an up-close look at the screens reveals that they are made up of repeating patterns of a seemingly countless number of tiny LED red, blue and red lights.

The signs have capability of showing motion on them but most states and local governments (including Iredell and Statesville) allow only static displays for fear the movement could cause a driving distraction.

Wilson White, the owner of Fort Dobbs Hardware, said he is glad to have the billboard.

"There has been a lot of progress in the world and I don't think everything has progressed for the good," he said. "But I think this is an example of good progress."