The “For the Birds” ad campaign for DirecTV emphasizes that customers no longer need a satellite dish for 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 the traditional TV package via satellite dishes mounted on the sides of houses and atop buildings is rolling out the next iteration of its “For the Birds” ad campaign, featuring NFL star turned college football coach. Deion Sanders joins the pack.
The focus of the ad campaign: DirecTV is also a streaming company.
As pay-TV distributors — both satellite and cable companies — have seen customers leave for streaming, DirecTV is trying to convey the message that a bulky satellite dish is no longer needed for its service.
“We’ve been selling a streaming product for quite some time, right? It’s not new to us. But a lot of customers didn’t know about it,” said Vince Torres, chief marketing officer at DirecTV. “We made this as an alternative… We know that 80% of people prefer not to put the plate on the side of their house.”
Additionally, the company’s survey showed 75 percent of consumers believed a satellite dish was still required for DirecTV, even though it had a streaming option as of 2016, Torres said. “That’s a very, very large percentage of prospects.”
Prime time
Colorado coach Deion Sanders talks with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) between plays during the home game between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, September 9, 2023 at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO .
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
That research and the reshaping media landscape has led DirecTV to refocus its marketing efforts — even though Torres claims the company is still a satellite TV provider and values those customers.
THE publicity campaign released earlier this year, features pigeons voiced by actors Henry Winkler and Steve Buscemi looking out the windows while people watch DirecTV, wondering how it’s possible without a satellite dish on their roof.
The pigeons mourn the loss of the dishes. Winkler’s Frank said he “loved working on those things,” while Buscemi’s Bobby quips, “Their plates kept the rain off our beaks.”
While changes in the media contributed to his interest in advertising, Buscemi said in an interview that he was sold on perfecting the voice and character of a New York pigeon.
“For me, it was more about the creative part of it,” Buscemi said. “I thought these characters were very funny.”
There has been about a 50 percent increase in prospects coming to DirecTV’s website since the ad campaign began, Torres said.
Sanders’ inclusion comes just before one of the busiest times of the year for US sports: starting with college football and the NFL, followed by the start of the NBA and NHL, and the MLB postseason .
Sanders, once known as “Prime Time” in the NFL and now known as “Coach Prime,” as the coach of the NCAA’s Colorado Buffaloes, wears a cowboy hat and gold chain, essentially playing himself.
“We have a long history TOGETHER — dating back to 2011,” Sanders said in an email interview. “It was only fitting that we meet again. Coach Prime has put on his wings again for DirectTV!”
In a 2011 ad campaign, Sanders was an NFL version of Tinker Bell, wearing a DirecTV football jersey under his wings. Sanders had swung by strings while filming that ad, so calling the pigeon was a different experience, he said.
Cord cutting
Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The industry has changed shape since Sanders’ last ad campaign with DirecTV, too.
Satellite TV providers such as DirecTV and EchoStar’s Dish was once some of the biggest distributors of the TV package. Competition intensified when cable companies began offering broadband.
For a time, the solution for satellite companies then was to focus on customers in rural areas, where cable broadband was sparsely available, said Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson.
However, the competition between cable and satellite TV for pay TV subscribers has intensified since streaming has caused many to ditch the package.
“This is all in the context of the cord-cutting phenomenon, and media companies are increasingly taking their best content, including sports, and putting it on streaming platforms, so what’s left of the TV package isn’t very good. to sell,” Moffett said.
The first quarter of this year was the worst for traditional pay-TV subscriber losses, according to MoffettNathanson, who estimated total losses topped 2.37 million for the first time ever.
Although DirecTV’s financials are now private — a result of private equity firm TPG acquiring 30% of DirecTV from AT&T in 2021 — the company has about 11 million satellite and streaming customers, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the financials. MoffettNathanson estimates that DirecTV added more than 20,000 streaming customers earlier this year.
The majority of these customers still have a satellite dish. For DirecTV’s streaming options, consumers can use their own device, such as a Roku. But the company also provides its own hardware, called the Gemini box.
DirecTV offers two streaming options — DirecTV Stream, a contract-free Internet TV package, and DirecTV Online, which requires a signed contract and is only available through the Gemini device.
According to Antenna data, DirecTV Stream has the lowest monthly gross additions rate compared to Hulu + Live TV, Philo, Sling TV and YouTube TV — though it’s often among the services with the lowest monthly subscriber loss rate.
“The challenge for consumers now is that it’s increasingly difficult to find what you want to watch,” Torres said of the distribution of content between various TV and streaming services. “It’s our version of entertainment road rage.”
The device allows viewers to switch between streaming apps such as Netflix and the DirecTV driver without changing remotes or inputs or exiting applications.
Other pay TV providers also offer similar options, such as Comcast‘s X1 set top box, as well as the streaming device Xumo, a joint venture between Communications Map and Comcast.
Sticking with sports
The “For the Birds” ad campaign for DirecTV emphasizes that customers no longer need a satellite dish for service. The pigeons are voiced by former NFL star Deion Sanders and actors Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler.
Courtesy: DirecTV
DirecTV is also trying to differentiate itself by focusing on sports, a major selling point for the company for some time.
Until the 2023 NFL season, DirecTV has been the sole provider of the “Sunday Ticket” game package since its inception in 1994. GoogleYouTube TV, a competitor to DirecTV’s streaming options, now owns the rights to “Sunday Ticket.”
But DirecTV still offers “Sunday Ticket” to bars, restaurants and other businesses, many of which rely on subscription shows showing all out-of-market NFL games to draw big crowds.
However, streaming has also shaken up live sports, the highest-rated television programs. Amazon’Prime Video and Netflix have exclusive NFL games, while legacy media companies have acquired exclusive game rights for their growing streaming services.
On the home consumer front, DirecTV continues to promote the idea that it has the most complete package of live sports offered by a pay TV and streaming provider. Its streaming offering includes all nationally televised games and local sports networks — a rarity for Internet TV packages.
This is where Coach Prime comes into play ahead of football season, Torres said.
“He’s highly relatable, fun to work with and effective at getting messages out,” Torres said. “When you think about this challenge that we face, how do we continue to build on that brand message that we’re trying to educate the US population with, who better to join the fold than Coach Prime.”
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal, co-owns Hulu.
