DIRECTV and DISH Network Launch Satellite Advertising Platform

Monday, April 26th, 2010
DIRECTV logo

National Advertisers Will be Able to Reach Nearly One-Third of U.S. Pay-TV Households

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — DIRECTV Group (NASDAQ:DTV) and DISH Network L.L.C. (NASDAQ:DISH), the leading digital television service providers in the United States, today announced the launch of the Advanced Satellite Advertising Platform (ASAP), a new interactive advertising platform giving national television advertisers unprecedented reach to nearly 30 million U.S. households.

The acronym ASAP is both a play on advertisers’ current needs for a more efficient, nationally-scaled interactive television platform and the platform’s immediate ability to deliver this interactive opportunity to the marketplace.

Advertisers will benefit from a turn-key, one-stop-shop approach with respect to the process of creating, planning, buying and implementing a national interactive advertising campaign. ASAP’s core opportunity will offer advertisers the ability to showcase long-form advertorial content on an exclusive, dedicated channel coupled with interactive opportunities to further engage the consumer. These interactive opportunities include additional product information, photo galleries, simple gaming, regional locators and requests-for-information (RFIs). RFIs enable consumers at home to enter a sweepstakes or request a product sample, informational brochure or coupon directly from the television using their remote control.

“Separately, our satellite companies already bring advanced media functionality to every DMA in the country; together, we bring the scale, ease of use and analytics that we believe will power interactive TV into the mainstream among clients,” said Michael Finn, Vice President of Advertising Sales for DISH Network.

“Both DIRECTV and DISH Network have offered advertisers a proven and mature interactive platform that dates back to 2004,” said Bob Riordan, Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales for DIRECTV. “Our combined advanced television efforts will bring the marketplace unmatched expertise and an unrivaled nationally scaled experience.”

ASAP will be a fully measured advertising platform utilizing third-party research services. Advertisers will receive in-depth post report metrics upon the completion of a campaign.