DirecTV is pushing its pay TV package, without satellite dish

Coach Prime wants consumers to know that they can watch DirecTV without a satellite dish.

The company, known for delivering traditional TV packages via satellite dishes installed on the sides of homes and atop buildings, is launching the latest iteration of its ad campaign, “For the Birds,” featuring NFL star turned college football coach Deion Sanders.

The focus of the ad campaign: DirecTV is also a streaming company.

As pay-TV providers, both satellite and cable, have seen their customers abandon streaming, DirecTV is trying to get the message across that a clunky satellite dish is no longer necessary for its service.

“We’ve been selling a streaming product for a while, right? It’s not new to us. But a lot of customers didn’t know about it,” said Vince Torres, DirecTV’s chief marketing officer. “We created this as an alternative. … We know that 80 percent of people would rather not have a satellite dish on the side of their house.”

Additionally, the company’s research showed that 75 percent of consumers still felt a satellite dish was necessary for DirecTV, even though it has had a streaming option since 2016, Torres said. “That’s a very, very high percentage of potential customers.”

That research and the changing media landscape have led DirecTV to refocus its marketing efforts, though Torres says the company is still a satellite TV provider and appreciates those customers.

The ad campaign launched earlier this year features pigeons, voiced by actors Henry Winkler and Steve Buscemi, looking through windows as people watch DirecTV, wondering how it’s possible without a satellite dish on the roof.

The pigeons complain about the loss of their plates. Winkler’s Frank said that “he liked to do his business on those things,” while Buscemi’s Bobby quips, “those plates kept the rain off our beaks.”

Although changes in the media affected his interest in the commercial, Buscemi said in an interview that he was sold on the idea of ​​perfecting the voice and character of a New York pigeon.

“For me, it was more about the creative aspect,” Buscemi said. “I just thought these characters were really fun.”

Torres said that since the advertising campaign launched, there has been an increase of about 50 percent in potential customers visiting the DirecTV website.

Sanders’ inclusion comes just ahead of one of the busiest times of the year for sports in the United States: it kicks off with college football and the NFL, followed by the start of the NBA and NHL, as well as the MLB playoffs.

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 right that we reunite. Coach Prime has given DirectTV wings again!”

In a 2011 ad campaign, Sanders was an NFL version of Tinker Bell, with a DirecTV football jersey under his wings. Sanders had been suspended from wires during the filming of that ad, so voicing the pigeon was a different experience, he said.

The industry has also seen changes since Sanders’ last ad campaign with DirecTV.

Satellite TV providers like DirecTV and By EchoStar Dish was once one of the largest TV package providers. Competition intensified when cable companies began offering broadband.

For a while, the solution for satellite companies was to focus on customers in rural areas, where cable broadband was in short supply, said Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson.

But rivalry between cable and satellite subscribers over pay-TV has dissipated as streaming has pushed many to abandon the bundle.

“This is all happening in the context of the cord-cutting phenomenon, where 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 bundle is not a very good sell,” Moffett said.

According to MoffettNathanson, the first quarter of this year was the worst ever for traditional pay-TV subscriber losses: for the first time ever, total losses exceeded 2.37 million.

While DirecTV’s financials are now private, following private equity firm TPG’s acquisition of a 30% stake in DirecTV from AT&T in 2021 — the company has about 11 million satellite and streaming customers, according to people familiar with the matter. MoffettNathanson estimates that DirecTV added more than 20,000 streaming customers earlier this year.

Most of these customers still have a satellite dish. For DirecTV 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 no-contract Internet TV package, and DirecTV over the Internet, which requires a signed contract and is only available through the Gemini device.

According to Antenna data, DirecTV Stream has the lowest monthly gross addition rate compared to Hulu + Live TV, Philo, Sling TV, and YouTube TV, though it often has the lowest monthly subscriber loss rate among services.

“The challenge for consumers now is that it’s harder and harder to find what you want to watch,” Torres said of the split in content between various TV and streaming services. “It’s our version of entertainment industry road rage.”

The device allows viewers to switch between streaming apps as Netflix and DirecTV Guide without changing remotes or inputs or leaving apps.

Other pay TV providers also offer similar options, such as Comcastthe X1 set top box, as well as the Xumo streaming device, a joint venture between Charter Communications and Comcast.

DirecTV also tries to differentiate itself by focusing on sports, which has long been one of the company’s key selling points.

Until the 2023 NFL season, DirecTV had 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 the subscription service that broadcasts every out-of-market NFL game to draw big crowds.

However, streaming has also revolutionized live sports, the highest-rated television programming. Amazons Prime Video and Netflix have exclusive NFL games, while traditional media companies have won exclusive game rights for their growing streaming services.

On the residential consumer front, DirecTV is still pushing the idea of ​​having the most comprehensive live sports package offered by a pay TV and streaming provider. Its streaming offerings include all nationally broadcast games and regional sports networks, a rarity for Internet TV packages.

That’s where Coach Prime comes in before the start of football season, Torres said.

“He’s highly relatable, he’s fun to work with, and he’s effective at getting his message across,” Torres said. “When you think about this challenge that we face, how do we continue to build this brand message that we’re trying to educate the U.S. population with, who better to join the fold than Coach Prime.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of Vscek.