As the two largest satellite TV providers in the country, DishNetwork and Direct TV have spent a lot of time beating on each other. It seems that they’ll be putting that rivalry on hold as they join forces to beat up on a common enemy: cable TV.
Both sides had lawsuits pending that said the other party was using false advertising, but those suits have been dropped and now the two satellite TV providers are playing nice with each other.
Dish Network and Direct TV have reached a deal to jointly sell national advertising in extended blocks. Typically a television commercial will last anywhere from 15 – 45 seconds but this new joint effort aims to sell commercial space in intervals as long as 15minutes.
With commercials so long and on both of the major satellite TV systems advertisers can build interactive applications embedded in their commercials. The idea is to get the consumer to do more than just watch (or more likely, ignore). If consumers interact with a commercial and can request product samples or brochures and enter a contest it is more than likely that advertisers can convert some of that interaction into sales.
Hopefully this bodes well for both parties and convinces the cable companies to get their act together as well.