McDonald's TV: Fast food giant to launch channel in restaurants. Will you watch?

In 2005, an Illinois McDonald's was outfitted flatscreens. Now more are on the way, this time with original programming. …McDonald's may have cut back on their Happy Meal fries, but they're making up for it in couch potatoes.

The fast food chain plans to launch an in-restaurant channel, for customers dining at 800 of their eating establishments.

It's a new kind of tv dinner, and breakfast and lunch for that matter, coming courtesy of one of TV's biggest reality moguls.

"Survivor" creator Mark Burnett, along with BBC America and KABC-TV Eyewitness News, will provide a constant 60 minute loop of original programming at McDonald's in Southern and Central California.

The Los Angeles Times reports: "The programming will be customized to specific communities around the individual restaurants, and will include local news and entertainment features, such as spotlights on upcoming films, albums and TV shows. "

News and doc style segments will spotlight local student athletes ("The McDonald's Achievers") and 24-hour working moms ("Mighty Moms"). Entertainment segments covering musical acts on the road ("McDonald's Channel Music News") and fashion, culture and nightlife news ("Vimby,") are also slated to air on the two hi-def flatscreens to be installed in each participating restaurant.

The California locations won't be the first McDonald's with high-tech entertainment. In 2005, the Oak Brook, Illinois location, where the company tests many of its ideas, got a high tech makeover with a ceiling carousel of high-definition TV's and a music downloading kiosk.

But with the launch of the 'McChannel', the restaurant will be curating the entertainment experience without input from customers.

Why is the fast food giant doing all this? For starters, eight minutes of each hourly loop is pure ad space. In addition to promoting the latest burger incarnation, other companies, both local and national, will have the opportunity to pitch to a captive audience scarfing down a Big Mac.

For patrons who want a silent area to hoover their milkshakes, a designated quiet zone will be available in an alcove each restaurant. But who's going to sit there? In a time when our field of vision is constantly blocked by a screen with moving pictures, it's hard to go without it, especially during meals.

Traditionally, eating out was a time for families, couples and friends to catch up, make eye contact, or if nothing else, break bread in silence. But these days, tablets and smartphones have a place at the dinner table and people are constantly entertained by social networking sites, apps and web series while they eat at home or at work. Why? Because it's there. It was only a matter of time that eating out caught up with the rest of our screen-obsessed lives. The bigger question is whether McDonald's programming is good enough to compete with, say, a flock of angry birds.


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