A “For the Birds” advertising campaign for DirecTV emphasizes that customers no longer need a satellite dish for the service. The pigeons are voiced by former NFL star Deion Sanders and actors Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler.
Courtesy: DirecTV
Coach Prime wants consumers to know that they can watch DirecTV without a satellite dish.
The company best known for delivering traditional TV sets via satellite dishes placed on the sides of homes and on the tops of buildings is rolling out the next iteration of its ad campaign, “For the Birds,” featuring an NFL star-turned-college football coach. Deion Sanders joins the herd.
Focus of the ad campaign: DirecTV is also a streaming company.
As pay-TV distributors — satellite and cable companies — see customers fleeing streaming, DirecTV is trying to get the message across that its service no longer requires a bulky satellite dish.
“We’ve been selling a streaming product for a while, right? It’s not new to us. But a lot of customers don’t know,” said Vince Torres, DirecTV’s chief marketing officer. “We built this as an alternative. … We know that 80% of people don’t want to put a pot on the side of their house.”
Also, the company’s research showed that 75% of consumers thought DirecTV still needed a satellite dish, despite having a streaming option since 2016, Torres said. “It’s a very, very large percentage chance.”
Prime time
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders talks with Colorado quarterback Shediur Sanders (2) during the home opener between the Colorado Buffaloes and Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Good pictures
This research and the changing media landscape has led DirecTV to refocus its marketing efforts — valuing those customers even as Torres argues that the company is still a satellite TV provider.
The Advertising campaign Released earlier this year, the pigeons, voiced by actors Henry Winkler and Steve Buscemi, look out the windows as people watch DirecTV, wondering how it’s possible without a satellite dish on their roof.
Pigeons lament loss of food. Winkler’s Frank says he “likes my business on those things,” while Buscemi’s Bobby quips, “They dishes kept the rain off our faucets.”
When changes in media played into his interest in advertising, Buscemi said in an interview that he perfected the voice and character of New York City Pigeon.
“For me, it’s about the creative part of it,” Buscemi said. “I thought these characters were really funny.”
Torres said there has been an approximately 50% increase in leads to DirecTV’s website since the ad campaign was launched.
Sanders’ admission comes just ahead of one of the busiest periods of the year for American sports: college football and the NFL kick off, followed by the NBA and the NHL and MLB’s postseason.
Once known as “Prime Time” in the NFL, Sanders, now known as “Coach Prime” as the coach of the NCAA’s Colorado Buffaloes, wears a cowboy hat and gold chain and plays mainly by himself.
“We have a long history together — dating back to 2011,” Sanders said in an email interview. “It was only fitting that we teamed up once again. Coach has put his wings back on Prime Direct TV!”
In a 2011 ad campaign, Sanders was the NFL’s version of Tinker Bell, wearing a DirecTV football jersey under his wings. Sanders was suspended on strings while filming the ad, so voicing the pigeon was a different experience, he said.
Stem cutting
Paolo Gonsar | Lightrocket | Good pictures
The industry has changed since Sanders’ last ad campaign with DirecTV.
Satellite TV providers like DirecTV and the like Echostar Dish was once some of the largest distributors of TV packages. Competition increased when cable TV companies began offering broadband.
In the short term, the solution for satellite companies is to focus on customers in rural areas, where cable broadband is less available, said Craig Moffett, analyst at Moffett Nathanson.
But the competition between cable and satellite for pay TV subscribers has fizzled out as streaming has turned many off.
“It’s all on the back of the cord-cutting phenomenon, and media companies are taking more and more of their best content, including sports, and putting it on streaming platforms, so what’s left of the TV package isn’t very good. Sell,” Moffett said.
The first quarter of the year was the worst in traditional pay TV subscriber losses, with total losses reaching 2.37 million for the first time, according to Moffet Nathanson.
Although DirecTV’s finances are now private – as a result of private equity firm TPG buying a 30% stake in DirecTV AT&T By 2021 — the company will have about 11 million customers across satellite and streaming, according to people familiar with the matter. MoffettNathanson estimated that DirecTV added 20,000 streaming customers earlier this year.
Most of those customers still have a satellite dish. For DirecTV’s streaming options, consumers can use their own device, such as Roku. But the company also offers its own hardware called Gemini Box.
DirecTV offers two streaming options – DirecTV Stream, a contract-free Internet TV package, and DirecTV over the Internet, which requires a signed contract and is only available through a Gemini device.
Based on antenna data, DirecTV Stream has the lowest percentage of total monthly additions compared to Hulu + Live TV, Philo, Sling TV and YouTube TV — though it’s often one of the services with the lowest monthly subscriber losses.
“The challenge for consumers right now is that it’s increasingly difficult to find what you want to watch,” Torres said of the division of content between different television and streaming services. “It’s our version of the entertainment industry’s road rage.”
The device allows viewers to switch between streaming apps Netflix and DirecTV Guide without changing remote controls or inputs or leaving applications.
Other pay TV providers offer similar options ComcastThe X1 set top box, as well as the Xumo streaming device, is a joint venture Charter Communications and Comcast.
Sticking with games
A “For the Birds” ad campaign for DirecTV emphasizes that customers no longer need a satellite dish for the service. The pigeons are voiced by former NFL star Deion Sanders and actors Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler.
Courtesy: DirecTV
DirecTV has been trying to differentiate itself for some time by focusing on sports, the company’s main selling point.
Through the 2023 NFL season, DirecTV has been the sole provider of “Sunday Ticket” games since its launch in 1994. GoogleYouTube TV, a competitor to DirecTV’s streaming options, now owns the “Sunday Ticket” rights.
But DirecTV still offers “Sunday Ticket” to bars, restaurants and other businesses, many of which rely on subscriptions that show all out-of-market NFL games to draw large crowds.
However, streaming has also shaken up live sports, which are highly rated TV shows. Amazon’Prime Video and Netflix have exclusive NFL games, while traditional media companies have acquired exclusive game rights for their growing streaming services.
On the residential consumer front, DirecTV still presents the impression of having a complete live sports package offered by a pay TV and streaming provider. Its streaming offering includes all nationally televised games and regional sports networks — a rarity for Internet TV packages.
That’s what coach Prime plays before football season, Torres said.
“He’s very recognizable, he’s fun to work with, and he’s good at getting the message across,” Torres said. “When you think about this challenge that we face, how do we create this brand message that we’re trying to educate the American people, it’s better to join the herd than Coach Prime.”
Disclosure: Comcast is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
