How Cafes and Restaurants Are Earning Extra Revenue From Their Existing TV Screens
Your venue screens are valuable advertising real estate. Learn how small businesses are turning idle displays into a revenue stream with digital signage advertising.
That TV behind your counter is costing you money every month. The electricity, the streaming subscription, maybe a cable package. It shows sports highlights or a screensaver, and nobody pays much attention.
But to a local business trying to reach your customers? That screen is prime advertising real estate.
Welcome to DOOH—Digital Out-of-Home advertising. It's a $35 billion industry, and until recently, it was reserved for billboards and airport terminals. Now small venues like yours can tap into it.
The Opportunity You're Sitting On
Think about what makes your venue valuable to advertisers:
- Foot traffic. People walk in, sit down, and look around. A captive audience.
- Dwell time. Your customers spend 20-45 minutes in your space. That's 20-45 minutes of screen visibility.
- Local context. An insurance agent down the street wants to reach exactly the people sitting in your cafe. A nearby gym wants to advertise their new year promotion. A local event needs to sell tickets.
These advertisers already spend money on Facebook ads, flyers, and local sponsorships. Your screen gives them something better: guaranteed visibility to real people in their neighborhood.
What Can You Realistically Earn?
This depends on three things: your foot traffic, your location, and how you price your screen time.
A cafe in a busy downtown area with 200+ daily customers can price higher than a quiet suburban salon. But even smaller venues earn meaningful revenue because local advertisers value proximity over reach.
Here's how the math works:
- You divide your screen time into dayparts (breakfast, lunch, evening)
- Each daypart has a price per day
- Advertisers book the slots they want
- Their ads run alongside your own content—not instead of it
If you price a lunch daypart at $5/day and fill 20 days per month, that's $100 from one time slot. Three dayparts across one screen? That's $300/month from a TV that was showing screensavers.
Venues with higher traffic or prime locations can price at $10-25 per daypart and earn significantly more.
Who Actually Buys These Ads?
You might think "who would pay to advertise on my cafe TV?" The answer: more businesses than you'd expect.
Local service providers — dentists, insurance agents, realtors, accountants. They want to be visible in the community.
Nearby retail — the boutique next door, the new gym around the corner, the bookshop having a sale.
Events and promotions — local festivals, community events, charity runs, restaurant week.
Brands — consumer brands with local distribution. The craft beer in your fridge, the coffee roaster you use, the snack company that just launched.
The key insight: these advertisers want to reach people in a specific neighborhood. Your screen delivers exactly that, with zero ad-blocker issues and guaranteed real-world visibility.
How It Works (The Simple Version)
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Connect your screen — Use your existing TV with a Raspberry Pi ($60), Fire TV Stick ($30), or any Android device. No special hardware needed.
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Set your content — Create playlists with your menu, specials, branded graphics. Your content always comes first.
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Set your pricing — Choose how much each daypart costs. You control the rates.
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Go live in the marketplace — Advertisers browse available screens by location and audience. They find yours, see your pricing, and book.
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Approve and earn — You approve every ad before it runs. If it doesn't fit your venue, reject it. Payments are automatic.
Your screen keeps showing your content. Ads appear in rotation alongside it. You don't lose your menu board—you gain a revenue stream.
Why This Works Better Than Traditional Advertising
For advertisers, your screen solves real problems:
| Traditional Ads | Your Venue Screen |
|---|---|
| Facebook: easily scrolled past | Can't skip or block a screen |
| Flyers: thrown away immediately | 20-45 min visibility per customer |
| Billboards: expensive, broad reach | Hyperlocal, affordable, targeted |
| Google Ads: competitive, expensive | No bidding wars, fixed pricing |
For you, it's passive income from an asset you already own and operate.
The Numbers Behind Digital Signage Advertising
The digital out-of-home market is growing fast:
- $35.9 billion global DOOH market projected for 2026
- 400% more views than static displays
- 33% increase in upsell rates when digital menus are used
- 24% jump in foot traffic for retail with digital signage
- 80% of businesses with digital signs report sales increases
Small venues are the fastest-growing segment because advertisers are shifting budgets from broad digital campaigns to hyperlocal, real-world placements.
What You Need to Get Started
You probably already have everything:
- A screen — any TV, monitor, or display
- Internet connection — WiFi or ethernet
- A media player — Raspberry Pi (
$60), Fire TV Stick ($30), or any Android device
Total hardware cost: under $100 if you already have a TV.
The software side is handled by PiAds. You get a dashboard to manage content, set pricing, approve ads, and track earnings. No technical expertise required.
Common Concerns
"Will ads annoy my customers?" You control what runs. Ads appear in rotation with your content, not as interruptions. Most customers don't distinguish between your branded content and a local ad. It all feels like part of the venue experience.
"What if I don't get any bookings?" Your screen still shows your own content. You lose nothing. But most venues in populated areas get their first booking within the first few weeks of going live.
"Do I need to create the ads?" No. Advertisers upload their own creatives—images, videos, or graphics. You just approve them.
"What about inappropriate content?" You approve every ad before it runs. Full control, always.
Getting Started Takes 10 Minutes
Here's the honest truth: the hardest part is deciding to try it.
The setup takes about 10 minutes. You sign up, connect your screen, upload your content, set your pricing, and go live. From there, the marketplace does the work of connecting you with advertisers.
Your screen was going to be on anyway. It might as well earn its keep.
Ready to Turn Your Screen Into Revenue?
Head to piads.co and sign up. Your screen could be live and earning within the hour.
No contracts. No upfront costs. No technical expertise required. Just a screen, an internet connection, and a venue that people visit.