By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Subway performers on the 42nd Street Shuttle line must now compete with Major League Baseball for riders' attention.
For the first time in subway history, the MTA has installed video screens to supplement an ad campaign for TBS's coverage of the 2010 baseball playoff season, the authority said in a statement Tuesday.
The screens will feature highlights from the previous night's games, though they will not feature audio, so as to avoid bothering disinterested straphangers, according to the statement.
MTA Chairman Jay Walder suggested that the screens, as well as other types of novel ad media, might become permanent fixtures on the subways.
"The MTA earns more than $100 million per year from sales of advertising space, mostly through traditional print media, but this traditional advertising has suffered as a result of the recession," Walder said in the statement.
"Our uncertain finances mean that we have to think creatively to maximize the value of our physical assets. One way we are doing that is by creating more dynamic advertising opportunities."
The MTA debuted the first wrapped subway – a train covered inside and out with a vinyl ad display – in 2008. The authority has also considered plans to install 3D and in-tunnel ads, Tuesday's statement noted.
