# Digital signage for bars and pubs

Running bar and pub drinks boards, tap lists, happy hour and event nights on TVs played from the TV's own browser, scheduled so the board changes with the service period.

Source: https://channelos.tv/industries/bars-and-pubs

## What runs it

ChannelOS plays as a web page in the browser the screen already has: Android TV, Google TV, webOS, Fire TV, a Chromebox, or a laptop in kiosk mode on the HDMI port. There is also a native Android TV app, downloaded as an APK from channelos.tv rather than from Google Play. There is no media player box to buy and no per-device licence.

## What goes on the screen

- **The drinks board and tap list.** What is on, what it costs, what just changed. A guest keg goes up as an edit rather than a chalk rewrite.
- **Happy hour that starts and ends itself.** Put the offer board on the hours it runs and the screen stops advertising it at closing time. Weekday and weekend plans can differ.
- **Food service periods.** Kitchen hours, the Sunday roast, the late menu. Each board sits on its own stretch of the timeline and the screen walks through the day.
- **Quiz and live music nights.** A board for Thursday that appears on Thursday, scheduled weeks ahead, with the ordinary board resuming after it.

## When ChannelOS is the wrong answer

ChannelOS does not talk to your till. There is no integration with Square, Toast, Lightspeed, Zettle or any EPOS, so prices on the board are typed rather than synced, and a price changed on the till will not change on the screen. It is also not a sports feed: it will not pull fixtures, live scores or a TV listings schedule, and it is not a way to show a broadcast match. If the screen's job is live sport or till-synced pricing, buy for that. ChannelOS fits the bar whose screens are drinks, offers and what is on this week, and wants them to change on the clock rather than on somebody's memory.

## Questions

### What is digital signage for a bar or pub?

It means running your drinks board, tap list, happy hour and event nights on a TV rather than on chalkboards and printed cards. In ChannelOS each board is an editable show played by the browser already in the TV, and boards sit on a channel timeline, so the happy hour board can occupy exactly the hours happy hour runs and get out of the way afterwards.

### Can the board change automatically at five o'clock?

Yes, that is what a channel is for. A channel is a named feed with a real daily timeline, so you place the day board on the daytime hours and the happy hour board on the evening ones, and every TV tuned to that channel follows the clock. Nobody has to be behind the bar for the switch, and the weekend plan can be different from the weekday one.

### Does it connect to my till for prices?

No. There is no EPOS integration with Square, Toast, Lightspeed, Zettle or anything else, so a price on the board is one you typed. If your prices change often enough that typing them twice is the problem, a hospitality product with till sync is the better buy.

### Can I show live sport or fixtures on it?

Not as live sport. ChannelOS cannot show a broadcast match and does not pull fixtures, scores or TV listings from any feed. You can of course put a board up saying which match is on and when, but the match itself comes from whatever already shows it on that TV.

### What do I need behind the TV?

Usually nothing. Android TV, Google TV, webOS and Fire TV all ship a browser, so you open the player URL on the TV and pair it by scanning the code with your phone, and there is a native Android TV app as well, downloaded as an APK from our own site rather than from Google Play. An older TV takes any cheap HDMI stick that loads a modern web page, with no per-device licence attached.

### How much does a pub screen cost to run?

The first screen is free forever with no card. Free screens show a ChannelOS banner that opens into a full ChannelOS slide roughly every two minutes, which behind a bar some places accept and others pay to remove; any paid plan removes both, at the per screen per month rates on the pricing page.

## Related

- [Bar and pub board maker](https://channelos.tv/tools/menu-board-maker/bar-pub): Build a drinks board in the browser now, free, and download the PNG.
- [Digital menu boards](https://channelos.tv/digital-menu-boards): The whole menu wall on the TVs you already own, priced once and updated everywhere.
- [Marking a line sold out](https://channelos.tv/blog/digital-menu-board-sold-out): Taking a drink off the board without retyping it in the morning.
- [Digital signage for restaurants](https://channelos.tv/digital-signage-for-restaurants): Dayparting, specials and the kitchen side of the same problem.