DirecTV is pushing its pay TV bundle — without a satellite dish
The company best known for providing the traditional TV bundle through satellite dishes posted on the sides of houses and on top of buildings is rolling out the next iteration of its ad campaign, “For the Birds,” with NFL star-turned-college football coach Deion Sanders joining the flock.
The focus of the ad campaign: DirecTV is a streaming company, too.
As pay TV distributors — both satellite and cable companies — have seen customers flee for streaming, DirecTV is trying to get the message out that a clunky satellite dish is no longer needed for its service.
“We’ve been selling a streaming product for some time, right? It’s not new to us. But many customers didn’t know,” said Vince Torres, chief marketing officer at DirecTV. “We built this as an alternative. … We know that 80% of people prefer not to put the dish on the side of their house.” [CNBC]
Nights in Las Vegas Are Becoming Dangerously Hot
In July, Las Vegas recorded its hottest ever temperature at 120 degrees. Even more alarming: For three straight nights, the mercury never dipped below 94 degrees.
“Everybody looks at the high temperatures, but the overnight lows kind of sneak up on you,” said Matt Woods, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.
This June and July, nights in Las Vegas stayed above 79 degrees for all but seven days. As the climate continues to warm, air-conditioning — especially while trying to sleep — becomes a basic need, not just a luxury. And hot nights are something more people are experiencing: No American major metro area has grown as much as Las Vegas has over the last three decades. [NY Times]
Why Apple is the Big Tech dark horse of adland
Apple is seemingly preparing a separate push in adland, one that will likely challenge the burgeoning advertising ambitions of fellow big-name platforms such as Amazon and Netflix.
The Telegraph reports that it met with U.K. TV industry measurement outfit Barb in recent weeks to discuss potential tracking options with such claims, echoing separate sources’ claims that some of its highest profile execs, such as Todd Teresi, were pushing a TV-like ad product last year in the U.S.
Separately, sources who had direct contact with Apple at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the ad industry tentpole event, told Digiday that the tech giant was in an observational mode, and keeping its cards close to its chest.
Speaking with Digiday, eMarketer analyst Paul Verna noted how Apple’s ad business is on course to exceed $6 billion in revenue this year and further rise to $8.5 billion in 2026. While this significantly trails the burgeoning ad business of Amazon (another rising player in the industry) and the duopoly of Facebook and Google, Verna believes it could be poised to significantly increase its 2% share of the advertising business. “It’s always hard to know what Apple is up to as it is one of the most secretive companies,” he said. “But everybody is waiting for Apple to do something big,” he added. [Digiday]
Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Clocks 14th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department clocks a 14th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Aug. 17), with 142,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 8 (up 98%) according to Luminate.
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 2 debuts at No. 2 with 107,000 equivalent album units, marking the 13th Ye album to reach the top two (his entirety of charting releases), while Ty Dolla $ign ups his tally of top 10s to three.
