There was huge news out of the cable industry today. DirecTV and NCC Media (a national advertising sales company) have announced a partnership to sell satellite ad space at the local level.
Previously, if you wanted to reach the DirectTV audience, you had two options: 1) purchase national ads from each cable network to reach all wired cable & satellite households; or 2) purchase ads from DirecTV and reach only their subscribers. Neither option makes much sense for a single-market, local advertiser.
Historically single-market advertisers have only been able to buy ad space from local cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, etc.). The problem is that their hard-wired cable systems only cover about 70% of each market, with the rest going to satellite (25%) and over the air signals (5%).
Now, local advertisers have the ability to reach both hard-wired and DirecTV subscribers within a given market. This potentially brings their coverage up to 85%-95%, depending on the market. As cable programming continues to climb the ratings, more and more advertisers are flocking to these shows. Top cable shows (Burn Notice, Royal Pains, WWE, NASCAR, etc.) typically rank among the top 25 of all TV shows airing in a given week.
