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Turning Off The TV in Taxis
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 28, 2003
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 28, 2003
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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Whether you felt they were cool or an annoyance, the city decided to cancel the TV in city taxis program after barely a year. Initially compelled to install the TVs for their potential to broadcast public emergency messages, the Taxi & Limousine Commission says "New Yorkers didn't embrace these units like they could have. Our surveys indicated that those who experienced the units showed either indifference or negativity. We saw no compelling need to keep them around."
The companies that offer taxi TVs are planning to file a court injunction against the order for removal. I Love Taxi TV claims that there would be more informational programming but who really noticed any of it amidst the really aggressive, poorly produced ads? A spokesperson from another company, Interactive Taxi, says, "It would have shown New York was a wired city. To take these out of cabs will set us back by 50 years. I can't imagine removing them now. It's like, why?" This might be the essential problem with these taxi-tv companies: They think simply having a TV is being wired.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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